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Employment Rulings in the Fourth Circuit

The Fourth Circuit covers the federal courts in Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia. The rulings below come from the circuit's court of appeals and the federal trial courts within it.

Of the 1,919 published rulings we track here (19732026), 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 1,919 published rulings we track in the Fourth Circuit.

Defendant Win
802 (42%)
Dismissed
356 (19%)
Mixed Result
284 (15%)
Plaintiff Win
276 (14%)
Remanded
165 (9%)
Settlement
36 (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 1,893 rulings we could classify by stage were decided.

Appeal
879 (46%)

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
305 (16%)

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 305 summary-judgment rulings here, 200 ended the case in the employer’s favor and 105 let the worker’s claims continue.

Motion to dismiss
606 (32%)

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

Trial verdict
46 (2%)

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

Settlement / consent decree
34 (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
13 (1%)

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

Other rulings
10 (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 Fourth Circuit covers.

Recent Rulings in the Fourth Circuit

Doe

Aug 3, 2022D. Md.Plaintiff Win

Hobson

Aug 1, 2022D. Md.Mixed Result

Green

Jul 27, 2022D.S.C.Defendant Win

Robertson

Jul 27, 2022D. Md.Defendant Win

Hart

Jul 25, 2022D.S.C.Dismissed

Gatebe

Jul 22, 2022D. Md.Defendant Win

Marino

Jul 21, 2022D. Md.Plaintiff Win

Doe

Jul 18, 2022D.S.C.Defendant Win

Garcia

Jul 7, 2022E.D. Va.Defendant Win

Johnson v. US Trinity Energy Labor Services LLC

Jul 6, 2022S.D. W. Va.Dismissed

Katz

Jun 30, 2022E.D. Va.Dismissed

Penland

Jun 22, 2022D.S.C.Defendant Win

Dillard

Jun 13, 2022W.D.N.C.Mixed Result

Phelps

Jun 13, 2022W.D.N.C.Defendant Win

Smiley

Jun 7, 2022E.D.N.C.Mixed Result

Parks

Jun 1, 2022D. Md.Remanded

Guzman

May 31, 2022D. Md.Plaintiff Win

Persinger

May 26, 2022S.D. W. Va.Settlement

Fonseca

May 6, 2022W.D.N.C.Defendant Win

Brown

May 3, 2022W.D. Va.Dismissed

Grant

May 3, 2022D. Md.Mixed Result

TAU

Apr 28, 2022E.D. Va.Dismissed

Johnson v. Local Government Federal Credit Union

Apr 26, 2022W.D.N.C.Dismissed

Construction Laborers Pension Trust Southern CA v. Marriott International, Inc.

Apr 21, 20224th CircuitDefendant Win

Construction Laborers Pension Trust Southern CA v. Marriott International, Inc.

Apr 21, 20224th CircuitDefendant Win

Jackson v. Sprint/United Management Company

Apr 20, 2022D. Md.Plaintiff Win

Speight

Apr 19, 2022E.D.N.C.Mixed Result

DeAndre James v. Paul Adams

Apr 18, 20224th CircuitRemanded

DeAndre James v. Paul Adams

Apr 18, 20224th CircuitRemanded

Gabriel Morrison-Mitchell v. Paul Adams

Apr 12, 20224th CircuitDismissed

Crouch

Mar 31, 2022S.D. W. Va.Defendant Win

Wells

Mar 30, 2022S.D. W. Va.Remanded

Tarashuk

Mar 30, 2022D.S.C.Defendant Win

Ricketts

Mar 29, 2022S.D. W. Va.Mixed Result

Tedder

Mar 29, 2022D.S.C.Dismissed

Bugoni

Mar 25, 2022D. Md.Defendant Win

Lashley

Mar 24, 2022D.S.C.Plaintiff Win

Adams

Mar 23, 2022D. Md.Defendant Win

Williams v. BTST Services, LLC

Mar 22, 2022D. Md.Mixed Result

Aguilar

Mar 21, 2022D. Md.Remanded

Sweikata

Mar 15, 2022D.S.C.Defendant Win

Glynn

Mar 11, 2022D. Md.Plaintiff Win

Jeffery

Mar 8, 2022S.D. W. Va.Dismissed

Z.S.

Mar 7, 2022M.D.N.C.Dismissed

Krehbiel

Mar 4, 2022D. Md.Plaintiff Win

JAMES

Feb 28, 2022M.D.N.C.Defendant Win

Adams

Feb 28, 2022D.S.C.Defendant Win

Sirmans

Feb 28, 2022D. Md.Defendant Win

Winfred Nicholson v. UNIFY Financial Credit Union

Feb 28, 20224th CircuitDefendant Win

Tsague

Feb 25, 2022D. Md.Defendant Win

Browse Other Circuits

Explore employment rulings from the other federal circuits.

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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.