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Employment Rulings in the First Circuit

The First Circuit covers the federal courts in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Puerto Rico. The rulings below come from the circuit's court of appeals and the federal trial courts within it.

Of the 367 published rulings we track here (1983–2026), the breakdowns below show how they were decided. They describe published opinions only — not the odds of any particular situation.

How These Rulings Ended

Of the 367 published rulings we track in the First Circuit.

Defendant Win
174 (47%)
Plaintiff Win
78 (21%)
Dismissed
43 (12%)
Mixed Result
33 (9%)
Remanded
26 (7%)
Settlement
13 (4%)

What Happens at Each Stage

A workplace lawsuit moves through stages, and a ruling can end it at any of them. Here is where the 361 rulings we could classify by stage were decided.

Appeal
128 (35%)

A higher court reviewing an earlier decision. Many published opinions come from this stage, after a lot has already happened in the case.

Summary judgment
72 (20%)

A ruling where the judge decides the case — or part of it — without a trial, because one side argues the key facts are not in dispute. For workers, getting past this step is often the biggest hurdle.

Of the 72 summary-judgment rulings here, 48 ended the case in the employer’s favor and 24 let the worker’s claims continue.

Motion to dismiss
126 (35%)

An early request — usually by the employer — to throw the case out before any evidence is gathered.

Trial verdict
17 (5%)

A judge or jury heard the evidence and reached a decision. Relatively few disputes get this far.

Settlement / consent decree
11 (3%)

The two sides resolved the dispute by agreement, sometimes with court approval. Most settlements are private and never show up in published opinions.

Default judgment
6 (2%)

A decision entered because one side did not respond to the case at all.

Other rulings
1 (0%)

Procedural decisions and orders that do not fit the main stages above.

States in This Circuit

Browse rulings from courts in each state the First Circuit covers.

Recent Rulings in the First Circuit

Sullivan

Sep 29, 2023D. Mass.Plaintiff Win

Patel v. 7-Eleven, Inc.

Aug 29, 20231st CircuitRemanded

Mongue

Aug 23, 2023D. Mass.Settlement

GRIFFIN

Aug 16, 2023D. Me.Mixed Result

Sheehan

Jul 12, 2023D. Mass.Defendant Win

O'Connell

Mar 24, 2023D. Mass.Remanded

Schara

Feb 13, 2023D.R.I.Plaintiff Win

Krua

Jan 18, 2023D. Mass.Dismissed

Mongue

Nov 22, 2022D. Mass.Settlement

Harper

Jul 27, 2022D. Mass.Dismissed

Clark v. Capital Vision Services, LLC

Jul 22, 2022D. Mass.Plaintiff Win

Munoz-Rosario

Jul 18, 2022D.P.R.Dismissed

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Citizens Bank, N.A.

Jul 15, 2022D.R.I.Defendant Win

MAINEHEALTH

Jun 14, 2022D. Me.Dismissed

Together Employees v. Mass General Brigham Incorporated

Apr 27, 20221st CircuitDefendant Win

NOLL

Apr 26, 2022D. Me.Settlement

Lozada

Mar 28, 2022D.P.R.Defendant Win

BELL v. O'REILLY AUTO ENTERPRISES LLC

Mar 15, 2022D. Me.Plaintiff Win

OKEREKE

Mar 9, 2022D. Mass.Plaintiff Win

Adams

Mar 9, 2022D. Mass.Dismissed

Scalia

Jan 4, 2022D. Mass.Plaintiff Win

Pineda v. Skinner Services, Inc.

Dec 30, 20211st CircuitPlaintiff Win

Together Employees v. Mass General Brigham Incorporated

Nov 18, 20211st CircuitDefendant Win

U.S. Dep’t of Labor, Secretary of Labor v. P Unitil Service Corp.

Nov 17, 2021D.N.H.Defendant Win

Adams

Nov 12, 2021D. Mass.Defendant Win

Host

Oct 28, 2021D. Mass.Plaintiff Win

Trustees of the Sheet Metal Workers Local Union No. 17 Insurance Fund v. Phils HVAC, Inc.

Oct 6, 2021D. Mass.Plaintiff Win

United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, AFL-CIO/CLC v. National Grid

Sep 28, 2021D. Mass.Defendant Win

Hatch

Aug 25, 2021D. Mass.Plaintiff Win

Rosado-Pagan

Jul 22, 2021D.P.R.Remanded

Rose

Jun 10, 20211st CircuitDefendant Win

Paige

Jun 9, 2021D.R.I.Settlement

White

Mar 26, 2021D. Mass.Defendant Win

Rosario Ramos v. Municipality of Rio Grande

Mar 11, 2021D.P.R.Defendant Win

Gonzalez-Bermudez

Mar 3, 20211st CircuitMixed Result

Daniels

Feb 18, 2021D. Mass.Defendant Win

Ministeri

Feb 10, 2021D. Mass.Plaintiff Win

NLRB v. The Wang Theatre, Inc.

Dec 31, 20201st CircuitPlaintiff Win

Laureano-Quinones

Dec 18, 20201st CircuitDefendant Win

Beaupre

Dec 16, 2020D. Mass.Defendant Win

NLRB v. The Wang Theatre, Inc.

Nov 30, 20201st CircuitDefendant Win

Modeski

Aug 25, 2020D. Mass.Defendant Win

Cervantes

Aug 5, 2020D. Mass.Dismissed

Adames Casalduc v. Televicentro of Puerto Rico LLC

Jul 14, 2020D.P.R.Defendant Win

Rapuano

Jul 10, 2020D.N.H.Settlement

American Institute for Foreign Study, Inc. v. Fernandez Jimenez

Jun 19, 2020D. Mass.Plaintiff Win

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Aviation Port Services, LLC

Apr 1, 2020D. Mass.Plaintiff Win

Micheo-Acevedo

Mar 6, 2020D.P.R.Defendant Win

FAGRE

Mar 5, 2020D. Me.Defendant Win

Furtado

Mar 2, 2020D. Mass.Mixed Result

Showing 51–100 of 367 rulings · Page 2 of 8

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These figures summarize publicly available published court opinions only. Published opinions over-represent summary-judgment rulings (decisions made without a trial) and appeals, because those are the stages where judges most often write formal opinions. Most workplace disputes settle privately and never appear here at all. A ruling’s outcome reflects many case-specific factors and is not a prediction for any other situation. Read more about how we source and classify rulings.

Data sourced from public federal court records via CourtListener.com. Case outcomes extracted using AI analysis. This information is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The classification of outcomes and case stages is based on automated analysis and may not reflect the full scope of each case.