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 1,632 published rulings we track here (1973–2026), the breakdowns below show how they were decided. They describe published opinions only — not the odds of any particular situation.
Of the 1,632 published rulings we track in the Fourth Circuit.
A workplace lawsuit moves through stages, and a ruling can end it at any of them. Here is where the 1,620 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 304 summary-judgment rulings here, 188 ended the case in the employer’s favor and 116 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.
Browse rulings from courts in each state the Fourth Circuit covers.
Charles R. Kerns v. Consolidation Coal Company Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, United States Department of Labor
Liberty Mutual Insurance v. Employee Resource Management, Inc.
Liberty Mut. Ins. v. EMPLOYEE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Adams
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Sears Roebuck & Co.
WXGI, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board
Carolina Holdings, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board
Vellone
Adams
Ramada Franchise Systems, Inc. v. Capitol View II Ltd. Partnership Venture
Overnite Transportation Co. v. National Labor Relations Board
Lloyd
Stovall
Spitzer
Bradley
Miller v. BAS Technical Employment Placement Co.
First Union Corp. v. American Cas. Co. of Reading
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Sara Lee Corporation
EEOC v. Sara Lee Corporation
Grinnell Fire Protection Systems Co. v. National Labor Relations Board
Dorsey Trailers, Incorporated v. National Labor Relations Board
NLRB v. Dorsey Trailers Inc
International Union, United Mine Workers v. Marrowbone Development Co.
Garrett
Adams
Radau
Circuit City Stores v. EEOC
USF Red Star, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board
Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, United States Department of Labor v. Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company Samuel Dillard
Beaumont
Admiralty Coatings Corporation v. William B. Emery Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, United States Department of Labor
Peter Ball v. Memphis Bar-B-Q Company, Incorporated, Secretary of Labor, Amicus Curiae
Adams
Capitol Cement Corp v. Secretary of Labor
Yuasa, Inc. v. International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, MacHine & Furniture Workers, Local 175
Local Union No. 666, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Afl-Cio v. Stokes Electrical Service, Incorporated
Spicer
Spitzer
EEOC v. Browning-Ferris Inc
Eastern Associated Coal Corporation v. Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, United States Department of Labor Pearl D. Scarbro
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Stowe-Pharr Mills, Incorporated, D/B/A Pharr Yarns
EEOC v. Stowe-Pharr Mills
NLRB v. Queensboro Steel
Weeks
Cpc International, Incorporated v. Skippy Incorporated Joan Crosby Tibbetts, American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, Incorporated, Amicus Curiae
Alexis M. Herman, Secretary of Labor, United States Department of Labor v. Local 305, National Post Office Mail Handlers, Liuna, Afl-Cio
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh, North Carolina Sacred Heart Cathedral
EEOC v. Roman Catholic Dio
EFCO Corporation v. NLRB
Elizabethtown Gas Co. v. National Labor Relations Board
Showing 1,451–1,500 of 1,632 rulings · Page 30 of 33
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.