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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 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.

Defendant Win
362 (44%)
Plaintiff Win
144 (17%)
Dismissed
118 (14%)
Mixed Result
102 (12%)
Remanded
61 (7%)
Settlement
42 (5%)

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.

Appeal
320 (39%)

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
159 (19%)

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.

Motion to dismiss
259 (31%)

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

Trial verdict
22 (3%)

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

Settlement / consent decree
41 (5%)

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
21 (3%)

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

Other rulings
3 (0%)

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

Conway

Jan 14, 2025W.D.N.C.Dismissed

Henderson v. S & K Security Consultants, Inc.

Jan 13, 2025D. Md.Plaintiff Win

Hanigan

Jan 10, 2025E.D. Va.Defendant Win

Schoenholtz

Jan 2, 2025D. Md.Defendant Win

Trustees Of The Laborers Trust Fund v. LCM Corporation

Jan 2, 2025W.D. Va.Plaintiff Win

Glanville

Dec 31, 2024D. Md.Defendant Win

Gagnon

Dec 23, 2024D. Md.Mixed Result

Ghant

Dec 18, 2024D.S.C.Defendant Win

DeBiasi

Dec 13, 2024E.D. Va.Defendant Win

Hadassah Feinberg v. Ferdinand Cintron, Jr.

Dec 9, 20244th CircuitDismissed

Simpson

Dec 3, 2024W.D.N.C.Mixed Result

Huntley-El

Dec 2, 2024D. Md.Dismissed

Ayoola

Nov 15, 2024W.D.N.C.Dismissed

Calzada

Nov 13, 2024W.D.N.C.Dismissed

Aguirre-Amaya

Nov 8, 2024D. Md.Plaintiff Win

Camara

Oct 31, 2024D. Md.Settlement

Thompson

Oct 30, 2024D. Md.Dismissed

Abraham

Oct 28, 2024D. Md.Defendant Win

Trustees of The National Automatic Sprinkler Industry Welfare Fund v. All Safe Fire Sprinkler Systems, Inc.

Oct 15, 2024D. Md.Plaintiff Win

Wadford

Oct 11, 2024D.S.C.Defendant Win

Wendelberger

Sep 30, 2024W.D.N.C.Dismissed

Aguilar

Sep 30, 2024D. Md.Plaintiff Win

Effland

Sep 30, 2024D. Md.Defendant Win

Lewis

Sep 23, 2024D.S.C.Defendant Win

Tran

Sep 19, 2024D. Md.Defendant Win

Swett

Sep 13, 2024D.S.C.Defendant Win

Philips

Sep 12, 2024E.D.N.C.Defendant Win

Watson

Sep 6, 2024D. Md.Settlement

Krysztofiak

Sep 5, 2024D. Md.Defendant Win

Reed

Sep 5, 2024D. Md.Settlement

McRee

Aug 30, 2024W.D.N.C.Mixed Result

Teamsters Local 355 v. Total Distribution Services, Inc.

Aug 26, 2024D. Md.Defendant Win

Sanders

Aug 26, 2024D. Md.Defendant Win

Trustees of the Bakery and Confectionery Union and Industry International Pension Fund v. A. Angonoa, Inc.

Aug 23, 2024D. Md.Plaintiff Win

Guillen

Aug 20, 2024D. Md.Plaintiff Win

Sama

Aug 16, 2024D. Md.Settlement

Flournoy

Aug 13, 2024D.S.C.Dismissed

Liberto Dodson v. Lutheran Village at Miller's Grant

Jul 30, 2024D. Md.Defendant Win

McKenzie

Jul 26, 2024D. Md.Plaintiff Win

Guzman Luna v. Yummy, LLC

Jul 26, 2024D. Md.Settlement

Carmona

Jul 25, 2024D. Md.Plaintiff Win

Kubas

Jul 19, 2024D. Md.Plaintiff Win

Ogden

Jun 28, 2024D. Md.Dismissed

Hernandez

Jun 25, 2024D. Md.Settlement

Sharifi

Jun 21, 2024D. Md.Defendant Win

Convertino

Jun 13, 2024D.S.C.Mixed Result

Sibrian

Jun 10, 2024D. Md.Settlement

Sorto

May 30, 2024D. Md.Defendant Win

Hadarou Sare v. Christina Nikiforidou

May 24, 20244th CircuitDismissed

Spa v. Aiken/Barnwell Counties Community Action Agency, Inc.

May 22, 2024D.S.C.Defendant Win

Showing 101–150 of 829 rulings · Page 3 of 17

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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.