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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

MEC Construction, Inc v. National Labor Relations Board

Jan 13, 20064th CircuitDefendant Win

James Heiko v. Colombo Savings Bank, F.S.B., Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Amicus Supporting

Jan 10, 20064th CircuitMixed Result

Tom Colucci v. Agfa Corporation Severance Pay Plan

Nov 28, 20054th CircuitDefendant Win

Kimberly Miles v. Dell, Incorporated, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Amicus Supporting

Nov 22, 20054th CircuitMixed Result

Roberts

Nov 18, 20054th CircuitDismissed

Williams v. United States Department of Labor

Nov 18, 20054th CircuitDefendant Win

Smith v. Westvaco Corp. Voluntary Employees Beneficiary Ass'n Long Term Disability Plan

Nov 17, 2005D.S.C.Defendant Win

Jadali

Sep 22, 2005M.D.N.C.Defendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Navy Federal Credit Union

Sep 13, 20054th CircuitRemanded

EEOC v. Navy Federal Credit

Sep 13, 20054th CircuitRemanded

ACLU

Sep 12, 20054th CircuitDefendant Win

American Civil Liberties Union v. Mote

Sep 12, 20054th CircuitDefendant Win

National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh, PA v. Porter Hayden Co.

Sep 9, 2005D. Md.Mixed Result

McMillian

Aug 23, 2005M.D.N.C.Mixed Result

Nordan

Aug 11, 2005E.D.N.C.Remanded

Lombard Canada, Ltd. v. Johnson

Aug 5, 20054th CircuitRemanded

Jefferson

Aug 1, 20054th CircuitDefendant Win

Shobert

Jul 29, 20054th CircuitDismissed

General Electric Capital Corp. v. Union Corp. Financial Group Inc.

Jul 21, 20054th CircuitDefendant Win

TNT Logistics of North America, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Jun 24, 20054th CircuitMixed Result

Valcourt Building Services, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Jun 24, 20054th CircuitDefendant Win

Venugopal

Jun 16, 20054th CircuitDefendant Win

Adams

Jun 16, 20054th CircuitDismissed

Adams

Jun 3, 2005W.D. Va.Defendant Win

Perdue Farms v. Natl Union Fire PA

Jun 2, 20054th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Circuit City Stores, Inc.

Jun 1, 2005M.D.N.C.Plaintiff Win

Mid-Atlantic Regional Council of Carpenters v. National Labor Relations Board

May 27, 20054th CircuitMixed Result

Pace

Apr 25, 2005N.D. W. Va.Defendant Win

Mashuda Corp. v. National Labor Relations Board

Apr 20, 20054th CircuitMixed Result

National Labor Relations Board v. Air Contact Transport Incorporated

Apr 11, 20054th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Cooper

Mar 24, 2005W.D.N.C.Mixed Result

National Union Fire Insurance v. Manufacturers & Traders Trust Co.

Mar 23, 20054th CircuitDefendant Win

Jordan

Mar 4, 20054th CircuitDefendant Win

Virginia International Terminals, Inc. v. Benny R. Edwards Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, United States Department of Labor

Feb 16, 20054th CircuitDefendant Win

Mail Contractors of America, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Feb 15, 20054th CircuitDefendant Win

Henrikson

Jan 14, 20054th CircuitMixed Result

West Penn Power Co. v. National Labor Relations Board

Jan 12, 20054th CircuitMixed Result

Media General Operations, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Jan 10, 20054th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Seafarers International Union

Jan 7, 20054th CircuitDefendant Win

B & G Building Maintenance, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Jan 6, 20054th CircuitDefendant Win

TKC

Jan 6, 20054th CircuitDefendant Win

Gary Lee James Amburn v. National Labor Relations Board, and Communications Workers of America Bellsouth Telecommunications, Incorporated, Intervenors

Jan 4, 20054th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Pitner

Dec 28, 20044th CircuitDefendant Win

Pulley

Dec 22, 2004D. Md.Defendant Win

Performance Friction Corp. v. National Labor Relations Board

Dec 22, 20044th CircuitDefendant Win

Jadali

Dec 16, 2004M.D.N.C.Defendant Win

Mining Energy, Incorporated v. Director, Office Of Workers' Compensation Programs, United States Department Of Labor

Dec 16, 20044th CircuitDismissed

Kress

Dec 10, 20044th CircuitDefendant Win

Paul Kress v. Food Employers Labor Relations Association

Dec 10, 20044th CircuitDefendant Win

Alza Corp. v. Mylan Laboratories, Inc.

Dec 7, 2004N.D. W. Va.Plaintiff 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.