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 829 published rulings we track here (1976–2026), 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 829 published rulings we track in the Fourth Circuit.
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 825 rulings we could classify by stage were decided.
A higher court reviewing an earlier decision. Many published opinions come from this stage, after a lot has already happened in the case.
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 159 summary-judgment rulings here, 112 ended the case in the employer’s favor and 47 let the worker’s claims continue.
An early request — usually by the employer — to throw the case out before any evidence is gathered.
A judge or jury heard the evidence and reached a decision. Relatively few disputes get this far.
The two sides resolved the dispute by agreement, sometimes with court approval. Most settlements are private and never show up in published opinions.
A decision entered because one side did not respond to the case at all.
Procedural decisions and orders that do not fit the main stages above.
Top Claim Types
Top Employers
States in This Circuit
Browse rulings from courts in each state the Fourth Circuit covers.
Recent Rulings in the Fourth Circuit
Trustees of the Iron Workers Local Union No. 5 and Iron Workers Employers Association Employee Pension Trust; Iron Workers Trust Fund Local No. 5, Washington, D.C.; Iron Workers Apprenticeship and Tra v. Miracle Steel, Inc.
Venclauskas
Johnson v. Anne Arundel County, Maryland
Kallmyer
Randy Luna v. Tug Hill Operating, LLC
Colon
Garten Trucking LC v. NLRB
NLRB v. Garten Trucking LC
Aziz
Buchanan
Spitalnick
Perkins
Hopkins, Jr. v. LRW Traffic Systems, Inc.
Acosta
Nazareth
Ragan
Bradford v. Armed Forces Benefit Association
Byers
Burnett
Janetis
Collis
Hickman
Potts
Rollinson
Sanders
Mangum
NELSON v. THREE POINTS CENTER, LLC
Jordan
Donovan
MedLine
Chitekwe
Gayhart
Holmes
Tansill
Sankano
Simpson
Marsh
Marsh
Hollington
Hintsa
Lawtone-Bowles
Workman
Hollington
Zepeda
Sutton
Jordan
Acker
Zuniga
Davis
Simms
Showing 51–100 of 829 rulings · Page 2 of 17
Browse Other Circuits
Explore employment rulings from the other federal circuits.
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.