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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

Farmer

Apr 9, 20134th CircuitDefendant Win

Debra Farmer v. Navy Federal Credit Union

Apr 9, 20134th CircuitDefendant Win

NLRB v. Engineering Contractors, Inc.

Mar 28, 20134th CircuitPlaintiff Win

In re Coventry Healthcare, Inc., Erisa Litigation

Mar 21, 2013D. Md.Mixed Result

George Adams v. Anthony Padula

Mar 8, 20134th CircuitDismissed

National Labor Relations Board v. Daycon Products Co.

Feb 28, 20134th CircuitRemanded

Employer Teamsters-Local Nos. 175/505 Health & Welfare Trust Fund v. Bristol Myers Squibb Co.

Jan 29, 2013S.D. W. Va.Mixed Result

Pessoa Construction Co. v. National Labor Relations Board

Jan 25, 20134th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Freeman

Dec 19, 2012D. Md.Defendant Win

Adam Pugh v. John Ingram

Dec 18, 20124th CircuitDefendant Win

Ashland Facility Operations, LLC v. National Labor Relations Board

Dec 14, 20124th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Thompson Contracting, Grading, Paving, & Utilities, Inc.

Dec 14, 20124th CircuitDefendant Win

U.S. Foodservice, Inc. v. Truck Drivers & Helpers Local Union No. 355 Health & Welfare Fund

Nov 30, 20124th CircuitDefendant Win

Esther Lewis v. Navy Federal Credit Union

Oct 15, 20124th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Propak Logistics, Inc.

Aug 7, 2012W.D.N.C.Defendant Win

Larry McFarland v. Kimberly Runion

Jul 31, 20124th CircuitDismissed

Randstad

Jul 24, 20124th CircuitRemanded

Davis

Jul 23, 20124th CircuitDefendant Win

Karen Davis v. Navy Federal Credit Union

Jul 23, 20124th CircuitDefendant Win

Randstad

Jul 18, 20124th CircuitRemanded

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. PBM Graphics Inc.

Jun 28, 2012M.D.N.C.Mixed Result

Gwyniece Hutchins v. U.S. Department of Labor

Jun 21, 20124th CircuitDefendant Win

Steven Ivey v. Fair Labor Relations Authority

Jun 19, 20124th CircuitDismissed

Gardner

Jun 4, 2012D. Md.Mixed Result

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Greater Baltimore Medical Center, Inc.

Apr 17, 20124th CircuitDefendant Win

Chamber of Commerce of the United States v. National Labor Relations Board

Apr 13, 2012D.S.C.Plaintiff Win

Adam

Apr 6, 20124th CircuitDismissed

Abdou-Malik Adam v. Wells Fargo Bank

Apr 6, 20124th CircuitDismissed

Intermet Corp. v. United Steel, Paper & Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial & Service Workers International Union

Apr 5, 20124th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Waugh Chapel South, LLC v. United Food & Commercial Workers Union Local 27

Feb 28, 2012D. Md.Defendant Win

Canada

Feb 14, 20124th CircuitDefendant Win

Minor

Jan 27, 20124th CircuitRemanded

Kathy Minor v. Bostwick Laboratories, Incorporated

Jan 27, 20124th CircuitRemanded

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Great Steaks, Inc.

Jan 26, 20124th CircuitDefendant Win

Dickenson-Russell Coal Co. v. International Union, United Mine Workers

Jan 3, 2012W.D. Va.Plaintiff Win

Jarvis

Dec 22, 20114th CircuitDefendant Win

Derek Jarvis v. Analytical Laboratory Services

Dec 22, 20114th CircuitDefendant Win

Adam Ciralsky v. George Tenet

Dec 20, 20114th CircuitDefendant Win

Pepper

Dec 1, 20114th CircuitRemanded

Robinson

Nov 30, 20114th CircuitDefendant Win

Chelsea Greene v. Department of Labor

Nov 15, 20114th CircuitDefendant Win

McInnes

Nov 10, 2011D. Md.Dismissed

National Labor Relations Board v. White Oak Manor

Oct 28, 20114th CircuitPlaintiff Win

George Wright v. Kimberly Runion

Oct 5, 20114th CircuitDismissed

US Airways, Inc. v. US Airline Pilots Ass'n

Sep 28, 2011W.D.N.C.Defendant Win

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. CTI Global Solutions, Inc.

Sep 2, 2011D. Md.Plaintiff Win

Petway v. National Labor Relations Board

Aug 30, 20114th CircuitDismissed

Adams

Aug 29, 20114th CircuitDismissed

McCollum

Aug 29, 20114th CircuitDefendant Win

Rudolph McCollum, Sr. v. Transport Workers Union

Aug 29, 20114th CircuitDefendant 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.