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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

Nanette

Oct 29, 2004D. Md.Defendant Win

Orantes

Sep 30, 2004D. Md.Dismissed

Colin

Sep 1, 2004M.D.N.C.Defendant Win

Hill

Aug 31, 2004D. Md.Plaintiff Win

Venugopal

Aug 26, 2004D. Md.Defendant Win

Government Employees Insurance v. Google, Inc.

Aug 25, 2004E.D. Va.Mixed Result

Webster

Aug 20, 20044th CircuitDefendant Win

United States Department of Labor v. North Carolina Growers Ass'n, Inc.

Aug 2, 20044th CircuitDefendant Win

United States Department Of Labor v. North Carolina Growers Association

Aug 2, 20044th CircuitDefendant Win

CSX Hotels, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Jul 26, 20044th CircuitDefendant Win

West

Jul 26, 20044th CircuitPlaintiff Win

National Taxpayers Union v. United States Social Security Administration

Jul 15, 20044th CircuitDefendant Win

National Taxpayers Union v. United States Social Security Administration

Jul 15, 20044th CircuitDefendant Win

Hasan

Jul 9, 20044th CircuitDefendant Win

Clark v. BASF Salaried Employees' Pension Plan

Jul 8, 2004W.D.N.C.Dismissed

Murray

Jun 9, 20044th CircuitDefendant Win

Melvin Sidwell v. Virginia International Terminals, Inc. Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, United States Department of Labor

Jun 7, 20044th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Kess

May 26, 2004D. Md.Defendant Win

Matthew Dixon v. Coburg Dairy, Incorporated, Equal Employment Advisory Council, Amicus Curiae

May 25, 20044th CircuitRemanded

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

Apr 19, 20044th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Greenbriar Pontiac-Oldsmobile-GMC Trucks-Kia, Inc.

Apr 14, 2004E.D. Va.Defendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Warfield-Rohr Casket Company, Incorporated

Apr 8, 20044th CircuitRemanded

Kimes

Apr 8, 2004M.D.N.C.Defendant Win

Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company v. Michael Firth Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, United States Department of Labor

Apr 5, 20044th CircuitDefendant Win

Bakery and Confectionery Union and Industry Intern. Pension Fund v. New World Pasta Co.

Mar 24, 2004D. Md.Plaintiff Win

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

Mar 4, 20044th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Portoreal-Quezada

Feb 5, 20044th CircuitDismissed

Lombard Canada, Ltd. Ex Rel. B & D Lalonde Trucking & Hauling, Inc. v. Johnson

Jan 27, 20044th CircuitRemanded

Miller v. Washington Workplace, Inc.

Jan 8, 2004E.D. Va.Dismissed

Lombard Canada, Ltd. v. Johnson

Jan 8, 20044th CircuitRemanded

NLRB v. Transpersonnel Inc.

Jan 8, 20044th CircuitMixed Result

Crenshaw

Dec 16, 20034th CircuitDefendant Win

Crenshaw

Dec 16, 20034th CircuitDefendant Win

Heston

Dec 12, 2003M.D.N.C.Plaintiff Win

National Labor Relations Board v. Transpersonnel, Incorporated, Transpersonnel, Incorporated v. National Labor Relations Board

Nov 13, 20034th CircuitMixed Result

Kanazeh

Oct 8, 20034th CircuitDefendant Win

Bedrock Services v. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union Nos. 238, 342 & 495

Sep 29, 2003W.D.N.C.Defendant Win

Kress

Sep 24, 2003D. Md.Defendant Win

In Re Walker

Sep 24, 2003S.D. W. Va.Defendant Win

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Bojangles Restaurants, Inc.

Sep 22, 2003M.D.N.C.Dismissed

Adan

Sep 10, 20034th CircuitDefendant Win

National Union Fire Insurance v. Allfirst Bank

Sep 5, 2003D. Md.Defendant Win

John W. Hancock, Jr., Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Sep 3, 20034th CircuitDefendant Win

Parker

Aug 20, 20034th CircuitDismissed

Anheuser-Busch, Incorporated v. National Labor Relations Board, National Labor Relations Board v. Anheuser-Busch, Incorporated

Aug 1, 20034th CircuitDefendant Win

Anheuser-Busch Inc v. NLRB

Aug 1, 20034th CircuitDefendant Win

Adams

Jul 31, 2003W.D.N.C.Mixed Result

Jeffery

Jul 24, 2003E.D. Va.Plaintiff Win

National Labor Relations Board v. Kodiak Electric Co.

Jul 2, 20034th CircuitPlaintiff Win

National Labor Relations Board v. Forsyth Electrical Co.

Jun 30, 20034th CircuitRemanded

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.