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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 1,014 published rulings we track here (19802026), 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 1,014 published rulings we track in the First Circuit.

Defendant Win
410 (40%)
Plaintiff Win
186 (18%)
Mixed Result
175 (17%)
Dismissed
136 (13%)
Remanded
86 (8%)
Settlement
21 (2%)

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 996 rulings we could classify by stage were decided.

Appeal
419 (42%)

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
194 (19%)

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 194 summary-judgment rulings here, 111 ended the case in the employer’s favor and 83 let the worker’s claims continue.

Motion to dismiss
309 (31%)

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

Trial verdict
30 (3%)

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

Settlement / consent decree
19 (2%)

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
16 (2%)

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

Other rulings
9 (1%)

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

Foster-Miller, Inc. v. Babcock & Wilcox Canada

Mar 31, 20001st CircuitPlaintiff Win

National Labor Relations Board v. Hospital San Pablo, Inc.

Mar 27, 20001st CircuitPlaintiff Win

March

Mar 3, 2000D.N.H.Dismissed

Wanda Negron-Rivera v. Angel L. Rivera-Claudio, Maderas Tratadas, Inc.

Feb 25, 20001st CircuitDefendant Win

Office

Feb 17, 20001st CircuitDefendant Win

Velazquez Casillas v. Forest Laboratories, Inc.

Jan 26, 2000D.P.R.Defendant Win

Elizabeth F. Smith v. First Union National Bank

Jan 19, 20001st CircuitMixed Result

Choi

Oct 8, 1999D. Mass.Defendant Win

Edward Street Daycare Center, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Aug 20, 19991st CircuitDefendant Win

National Labor Relations Board v. Hilliard Development Corp.

Jul 22, 19991st CircuitPlaintiff Win

Martin

Jun 2, 1999D. Mass.Defendant Win

Visiting Nurses v. NLRB

May 26, 19991st CircuitMixed Result

Jeanne B. DEMARS, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. CIGNA CORPORATION and Insurance Company of North America, Defendants, Appellees

Apr 6, 19991st CircuitPlaintiff Win

Susan M. ROSENBERG, Plaintiff, Appellee, v. MERRILL LYNCH, PIERCE, FENNER & SMITH, INC. and John Wyllys, Defendants, Appellants

Feb 24, 19991st CircuitMixed Result

Reich

Dec 30, 19981st CircuitMixed Result

Uia

Dec 17, 1998D.P.R.Plaintiff Win

Wallace Int'l v. NLRB

Jun 15, 19981st CircuitPlaintiff Win

Local 254 v. NLRB

May 18, 19981st CircuitDefendant Win

Leo VARTANIAN, Plaintiff—Appellant, v. MONSANTO COMPANY, Et Al., Defendants—Appellees

Dec 15, 19971st CircuitDefendant Win

McGaw of Puerto Rico, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Dec 10, 19971st CircuitDefendant Win

McGaw of Puerto v. NLRB

Dec 10, 19971st CircuitDefendant Win

Reich

Sep 18, 19971st CircuitDefendant Win

NLRB v. Goodless Brothers

Sep 9, 19971st CircuitDefendant Win

NLRB v. Goodless Brothers

Sep 9, 19971st CircuitDefendant Win

Yesterday's Children v. NLRB

May 30, 19971st CircuitMixed Result

Gwadosky

May 19, 1997D. Me.Plaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Amego, Inc.

Apr 7, 19971st CircuitDefendant Win

Asseo Ex Rel. National Labor Relations Board v. Bultman Enterprises, Inc.

Nov 7, 1996D.P.R.Plaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Astra USA, Inc.

Sep 6, 19961st CircuitSettlement

Providence Hospital v. NLRB

Aug 28, 19961st CircuitDefendant Win

Acme Tile & Terrazzo v. NLRB

Jun 25, 19961st CircuitMixed Result

William DEGNAN, Jr., Plaintiff, Appellant, v. PUBLICKER INDUSTRIES, INC., Et Al., Defendants, Appellees

May 1, 19961st CircuitRemanded

NLRB v. Harding Glass

Mar 27, 19961st CircuitMixed Result

Asociacion de v. NLRB

Feb 28, 19961st CircuitDefendant Win

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Donald E. GREEN, Law Offices, Defendant-Appellee

Feb 9, 19961st CircuitRemanded

GIROUX BROS. TRANSPORTATION, INC., Plaintiff, Appellant, v. NEW ENGLAND TEAMSTERS & TRUCKING INDUSTRY PENSION FUND, Defendant, Appellee

Jan 4, 19961st CircuitDefendant Win

National Surface v. NLRB

May 15, 19951st CircuitPlaintiff Win

National Surface v. NLRB

May 15, 19951st CircuitDefendant Win

NLRB v. Horizons Hotel Corp.

Mar 3, 19951st CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Steamship Clerks Union, Local 1066

Feb 28, 19951st CircuitMixed Result

Reich

Jan 24, 19951st CircuitDefendant Win

NLRB v. San Rafael Hospital

Dec 12, 19941st CircuitPlaintiff Win

In Re: Pye for NLRB v. Sullivan Brothers

Oct 26, 19941st CircuitDefendant Win

The 3-E Company v. NLRB

Jun 3, 19941st CircuitDefendant Win

Costello

Mar 24, 1994D. Mass.Plaintiff Win

NLRB v. Crafts Precision

Feb 15, 19941st CircuitPlaintiff Win

Union De La v. NLRB

Nov 12, 19931st CircuitDismissed

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Horizons Hotel Corp.

Sep 29, 1993D.P.R.Plaintiff Win

NLRB v. International Paper

Aug 31, 19931st CircuitMixed Result

Local 14 v. NLRB

Aug 31, 19931st CircuitMixed Result

Showing 9511,000 of 1,014 rulings · Page 20 of 21

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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.