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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

Hayes

Jul 15, 2020D.S.C.Remanded

Barlow

Jul 15, 2020E.D.N.C.Dismissed

Blaylock

Jul 14, 2020S.D. W. Va.Dismissed

Ashford

Jul 13, 2020D.S.C.Defendant Win

Mayo

Jul 9, 2020D. Md.Defendant Win

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION v. LOFLIN FABRICATIONS, LLC

Jul 8, 2020M.D.N.C.Mixed Result

Scott

Jul 8, 2020D. Md.Dismissed

Thomas Harwood, III v. American Airlines, Inc.

Jul 6, 20204th CircuitMixed Result

Want

Jul 6, 2020D. Md.Dismissed

Allen

Jul 2, 2020D. Md.Mixed Result

O'Quinn

Jun 29, 2020S.D. W. Va.Mixed Result

Throckmorton

Jun 26, 2020D.S.C.Defendant Win

Adam Hall v. Erik Hooks

Jun 19, 20204th CircuitDismissed

Williams v. Loving Care Nursing Services, Inc.

Jun 16, 2020D. Md.Defendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Joe's Old Fashioned Bar-B-Que, Inc.

Jun 12, 2020W.D.N.C.Mixed Result

April Hill v. Employee Resource Group, LLC

Jun 12, 20204th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Constellium Rolled Products Ravenswood, LLC v. United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, AFL-CIO/CLC

Jun 11, 2020S.D. W. Va.Defendant Win

April Hill v. Employee Resource Group, LLC

Jun 9, 20204th CircuitPlaintiff Win

White

Jun 2, 2020S.D. W. Va.Defendant Win

Krysztofiak

Jun 1, 2020D. Md.Mixed Result

Wright

May 27, 2020S.D. W. Va.Dismissed

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION v. LOFLIN FABRICATIONS, LLC

May 22, 2020M.D.N.C.Mixed Result

Schoonover

May 21, 2020S.D. W. Va.Dismissed

Trump

May 21, 2020D. Md.Defendant Win

Liberato

May 20, 2020W.D. Va.Dismissed

Hamada

May 20, 2020D.S.C.Defendant Win

Silva

May 19, 2020D.S.C.Defendant Win

Palmer v. W&T Travel Services, LLC

May 13, 2020D. Md.Mixed Result

Neal

May 8, 2020E.D.N.C.Dismissed

Baggott

May 5, 2020E.D.N.C.Mixed Result

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Ecology Services, Inc.

May 1, 2020D. Md.Mixed Result

Parsons

Apr 20, 2020S.D. W. Va.Plaintiff Win

Limes

Apr 20, 2020D. Md.Mixed Result

Smith v. Potomac Electric Power Company

Apr 17, 2020D. Md.Plaintiff Win

Lake

Apr 9, 2020W.D. Va.Defendant Win

Su, Secretary of Labor, United States Department of Labor v. Medical Staffing of America, LLC

Apr 8, 2020E.D. Va.Mixed Result

Waters

Apr 2, 2020E.D. Va.Defendant Win

Volvo Group North America, LLC v. International Union United Automobile Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, UAW ("UAW")

Mar 31, 2020W.D. Va.Dismissed

Adams

Mar 31, 2020D.S.C.Mixed Result

HINES

Mar 30, 2020M.D.N.C.Defendant Win

Gagne

Mar 27, 2020D.S.C.Defendant Win

Hayes

Mar 23, 2020D.S.C.Mixed Result

Adams

Mar 18, 2020D.S.C.Defendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Performance Food Group, Inc.

Mar 18, 2020D. Md.Mixed Result

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Performance Food Group, Inc.

Mar 18, 2020D. Md.Mixed Result

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Performance Food Group, Inc.

Mar 18, 2020D. Md.Mixed Result

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Dolgencorp, LLC

Mar 18, 2020D. Md.Mixed Result

Hart

Mar 13, 2020W.D.N.C.Defendant Win

Chapman

Mar 12, 2020E.D.N.C.Defendant Win

Billioni

Mar 12, 2020D.S.C.Plaintiff 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.