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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

Rodrique

Feb 22, 2024D. Mass.Mixed Result

Preston

Feb 9, 2024D. Mass.Remanded

MARCHESE

Feb 7, 2024D. Me.Defendant Win

Jiang

Feb 5, 2024D. Mass.Remanded

Roller Bearing Company of America, Inc. v. Raytheon Company

Jan 31, 2024D. Mass.Plaintiff Win

Jiang

Jan 31, 2024D. Mass.Plaintiff Win

Verizon Sickness and Accident Disability Benefit Plan for New England Associates v. Rogers

Jan 29, 2024D.R.I.Defendant Win

Leaver

Jan 19, 2024D. Mass.Dismissed

Bernier

Dec 13, 2023D. Mass.Mixed Result

Ripoli

Nov 16, 2023D.R.I.Defendant Win

HEWES

Nov 9, 2023D. Me.Defendant Win

Maestas

Nov 8, 2023D.R.I.Plaintiff Win

Kibbe

Oct 18, 2023D. Mass.Plaintiff Win

Tseng

Oct 17, 2023D. Mass.Defendant Win

Thorpe

Oct 4, 2023D. Mass.Plaintiff Win

WOODS

Oct 2, 2023D. Me.Mixed Result

Adams

Sep 28, 2023D. Mass.Defendant Win

STOWE

Sep 19, 2023D. Me.Remanded

Pabon-Villafane

Sep 7, 2023D.P.R.Defendant Win

LOWE

Aug 25, 2023D. Me.Defendant Win

Mongue

Aug 23, 2023D. Mass.Plaintiff Win

GRIFFIN

Aug 16, 2023D. Me.Remanded

COATES

Aug 8, 2023D. Me.Dismissed

ROUSSEL

Aug 7, 2023D. Me.Remanded

Rita Grenier and Edwin Grenier, Individually and on Behalf of All Others Similarly Situated v. P Granite State Credit Union, Does 1 through 5

Aug 2, 2023D.N.H.Settlement

McEntee

Aug 1, 2023D. Mass.Remanded

TOURANGEAU

Jul 18, 2023D. Me.Plaintiff Win

MCLAUGHLIN

Jul 18, 2023D. Mass.Plaintiff Win

Leif

Jul 18, 2023D. Mass.Plaintiff Win

Sheehan

Jul 12, 2023D. Mass.Defendant Win

Halsten

Jul 11, 2023D. Mass.Mixed Result

Adams

Jun 30, 2023D. Mass.Defendant Win

Wang

Jun 22, 2023D. Mass.Defendant Win

Alberty-Marrero

Jun 21, 2023D.P.R.Remanded

Morales Posada v. Cultural Care, Inc.

Jun 20, 2023D. Mass.Plaintiff Win

Arnold

Jun 12, 2023D. Mass.Mixed Result

DOE

May 19, 2023D. Me.Plaintiff Win

Ritrovato

May 4, 2023D. Mass.Mixed Result

MCBREAIRTY

Apr 26, 2023D. Me.Defendant Win

WOODS

Apr 3, 2023D. Me.Remanded

O'Connell

Mar 24, 2023D. Mass.Remanded

Brown

Mar 6, 2023D. Mass.Plaintiff Win

WOODS

Feb 24, 2023D. Me.Remanded

TOURANGEAU

Feb 20, 2023D. Me.Plaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Triple-S Vida, Inc.

Feb 17, 2023D.P.R.Remanded

TOURANGEAU

Feb 17, 2023D. Me.Defendant Win

Schara

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

IKOSSI, MD v. ST MARY'S REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER

Feb 9, 2023D. Me.Mixed Result

BAILEY

Feb 3, 2023D. Me.Plaintiff Win

Arana-Allende

Jan 31, 2023D.P.R.Mixed Result

Showing 201250 of 1,014 rulings · Page 5 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.