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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

In Re Duke Energy ERISA Litigation

Jun 23, 2003W.D.N.C.Defendant Win

Mingo Logan Coal Co. v. National Labor Relations Board

Jun 17, 20034th CircuitMixed Result

Touchstone Research Laboratory, Ltd. v. Anchor Equipment Sales, Inc.

Jun 4, 2003N.D. W. Va.Mixed Result

Adams

Jun 4, 20034th CircuitDismissed

Ricks

May 30, 20034th CircuitRemanded

Williams v. Union Memorial Hospital

May 16, 20034th CircuitDefendant Win

Biovail Corp. v. Mylan Laboratories, Inc.

May 2, 2003N.D. W. Va.Defendant Win

Parada v. U.S. Immigration & Naturalization Service

Apr 28, 20034th CircuitDefendant Win

National Labor Relations Board v. Mining Specialists, Incorporated, and Its Alter Ego or Successor Point Mining, Inc.

Apr 24, 20034th CircuitPlaintiff Win

NLRB v. Mining Specialists

Apr 24, 20034th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Tzada

Apr 24, 20034th CircuitDefendant Win

Smith v. Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories Co.

Apr 17, 2003W.D.N.C.Mixed Result

Mullins

Apr 14, 20034th CircuitDefendant Win

Lurlie Ramey v. Director, Office Of Workers' Compensation Programs, United States Department Of Labor

Apr 14, 20034th CircuitDefendant Win

Mullins

Apr 14, 20034th CircuitDefendant Win

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

Apr 10, 20034th CircuitDefendant Win

Heritage Oldsmobile-Imports v. Volkswagen of America, Inc.

Mar 24, 2003D. Md.Defendant Win

Equal Employment Oppurtunity Commission v. Dollar General Corp.

Mar 20, 2003M.D.N.C.Mixed Result

Sara Lee Bakery Group, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Feb 21, 20034th CircuitDefendant Win

Stewart

Feb 3, 2003D. Md.Defendant Win

Counts v. South Carolina Electric & Gas Company

Jan 31, 20034th CircuitDefendant Win

Local 109 Retirement Fund v. First Union National Bank

Jan 23, 20034th CircuitDefendant Win

Winston-Salem Mailers Union 133 v. Media General Operations, Inc.

Jan 15, 20034th CircuitPlaintiff Win

National Union Fire Insurance of Pittsburgh v. Bank of America, N.A.

Jan 15, 2003D. Md.Defendant Win

Uwazih

Jan 15, 20034th CircuitDismissed

Uwazih

Jan 15, 20034th CircuitDismissed

Reliable Liquors, Inc. v. Truck Drivers & Helpers Local Union No. 355 Pension Fund

Jan 14, 2003D. Md.Defendant Win

Pitts

Jan 10, 2003D. Md.Defendant Win

Dove

Jan 8, 20034th CircuitDefendant Win

KBG Holding Corp. v. Union Bank & Trust Co.

Jan 8, 20034th CircuitDefendant Win

Consolidation Coal Company v. Arthur O. Held Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, United States Department of Labor

Dec 20, 20024th CircuitRemanded

Masada

Dec 19, 20024th CircuitDefendant Win

Harrell

Dec 19, 2002M.D.N.C.Defendant Win

Moghadam

Dec 19, 20024th CircuitDefendant Win

Moore

Nov 14, 2002D. Md.Remanded

Howard

Oct 23, 2002M.D.N.C.Defendant Win

Adams

Sep 30, 2002D. Md.Defendant Win

Kairgadam

Sep 23, 20024th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Browning-Ferris, Inc.

Sep 17, 2002D. Md.Plaintiff Win

United States ex rel. Union Light & Power Co. v. CamCo Construction Co.

Sep 10, 2002D. Md.Defendant Win

Kress

Sep 6, 2002D. Md.Defendant Win

Adkins

Aug 30, 20024th CircuitDefendant Win

Adkins v. Labor Ready, Incorporated

Aug 30, 20024th CircuitDefendant Win

Adams

Aug 23, 2002W.D. Va.Defendant Win

Forbes

Aug 19, 20024th CircuitDefendant Win

Forbes

Aug 19, 20024th CircuitDefendant Win

Kissee

Aug 19, 20024th CircuitDefendant Win

Hazel

Aug 16, 2002W.D.N.C.Defendant Win

Mullins

Aug 8, 2002E.D. Va.Defendant Win

Schrader

Aug 1, 2002M.D.N.C.Mixed Result

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.