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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

McElroy Coal Co. v. National Labor Relations Board

Aug 20, 20104th CircuitRemanded

Ugl Unicco v. Local Lodge No. 2541

Jul 13, 2010E.D.N.C.Defendant Win

Williams v. Brunswick County Board of Education

Jul 2, 2010E.D.N.C.Defendant Win

Fola Coal Co. v. National Labor Relations Board

Jul 2, 20104th CircuitRemanded

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Baltimore County

Jun 25, 20104th CircuitRemanded

Employers Council on Flexible Compensation v. Kenneth Feltman

Jun 21, 20104th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Fairbrook Medical Clinic

Jun 18, 20104th CircuitRemanded

Adams

Jun 9, 20104th CircuitDefendant Win

Hinton

Jun 8, 20104th CircuitDefendant Win

Hinton

Jun 8, 20104th CircuitDefendant Win

Hinton

Jun 8, 20104th CircuitDefendant Win

Adardour

Jun 8, 20104th CircuitDefendant Win

Pellegrin

May 18, 20104th CircuitRemanded

Larson

May 17, 20104th CircuitDismissed

Botkin

May 17, 2010W.D. Va.Plaintiff Win

Adams

Apr 15, 2010D. Md.Mixed Result

Nieto

Mar 31, 2010E.D.N.C.Defendant Win

Ennett

Mar 21, 2010E.D.N.C.Mixed Result

United States Ex Rel. Lopez v. Strayer Education, Inc.

Mar 18, 2010E.D. Va.Dismissed

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Cromer Food Services, Inc.

Feb 26, 2010D.S.C.Defendant Win

Perry

Feb 24, 2010D. Md.Plaintiff Win

Micro Focus (Us), Inc. v. Bell Canada

Feb 23, 2010D. Md.Defendant Win

Alliant Ammunition & Powder Co., L.L.C. v. Local 8-00495 of United Steel, Paper & Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial & Service Workers International Union

Feb 10, 2010W.D. Va.Mixed Result

Barbour

Feb 4, 20104th CircuitRemanded

Millennium Inorganic Chemicals Ltd. v. National Union Fire Insurance

Feb 3, 2010D. Md.Defendant Win

Slaey

Jan 29, 20104th CircuitDefendant Win

U.S. EEOC v. CTI Global Solutions, Inc.

Jan 25, 2010D. Md.Remanded

Alton H. Piester, LLC v. National Labor Relations Board

Jan 15, 20104th CircuitDefendant Win

Timmins

Jan 7, 20104th CircuitRemanded

Stone v. Instrumentation Laboratory Co.

Dec 31, 20094th CircuitRemanded

Sepulveda v. Allen Family Foods, Inc.

Dec 29, 20094th CircuitDefendant Win

Alexander v. QVC DISTRIBUTION CENTER

Dec 29, 2009E.D.N.C.Defendant Win

Clark v. National Credit Union Administration

Dec 1, 20094th CircuitDefendant Win

Narricot Industries v. National Labor Relations Board

Nov 20, 20094th CircuitDefendant Win

PPG Industries, Inc. v. International Chemical Workers Union Council of the United Food & Commercial Workers

Nov 20, 20094th CircuitRemanded

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission

Oct 26, 2009D. Md.Plaintiff Win

Desmond

Sep 16, 2009N.D. W. Va.Mixed Result

Tiffer

Aug 26, 20094th CircuitDismissed

Tiffer

Aug 26, 20094th CircuitDismissed

Witherspoon

Aug 26, 20094th CircuitDismissed

Witherspoon

Aug 26, 20094th CircuitDismissed

Tiffer

Aug 26, 20094th CircuitDismissed

Witherspoon

Aug 26, 20094th CircuitDismissed

American Civil Liberties Union v. Holder

Aug 21, 2009E.D. Va.Dismissed

Fraternal Order of Police v. Prince George's County

Aug 18, 2009D. Md.Mixed Result

Hinton

Aug 11, 2009E.D. Va.Dismissed

Calhoun

Aug 11, 20094th CircuitDefendant Win

Minor

Aug 10, 2009E.D. Va.Defendant Win

Anglin

Aug 10, 2009E.D.N.C.Defendant Win

Adair

Aug 6, 20094th 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.