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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

Goble

Aug 15, 2025E.D. Va.Dismissed

Goddard

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

Kiver, Ph.D. v. Federal Business Council, Inc.

Aug 13, 2025D. Md.Dismissed

Monti

Aug 12, 2025S.D. W. Va.Dismissed

Suter

Aug 12, 2025E.D. Va.Defendant Win

Johnson v. Credit Acceptance Corporation

Aug 8, 2025D.S.C.Defendant Win

Bobb

Aug 8, 2025D. Md.Dismissed

Siatkowski

Aug 7, 2025D. Md.Dismissed

Gomez Martinez v. Crystal Jewelry Clinton, Inc.

Aug 5, 2025D. Md.Remanded

Nazario

Aug 5, 2025E.D. Va.Dismissed

Fortner

Aug 1, 2025D.S.C.Defendant Win

Maffeo

Aug 1, 2025D.S.C.Dismissed

Goddard

Jul 30, 2025D. Md.Mixed Result

Moore

Jul 30, 2025D. Md.Dismissed

Moore

Jul 30, 2025D. Md.Defendant Win

Arnold

Jul 29, 2025E.D. Va.Dismissed

Lynch v. CT Medical Licensing Board

Jul 28, 2025D.S.C.Defendant Win

Butler v. The Avenue K&B LLC

Jul 28, 2025D. Md.Dismissed

Rohrer

Jul 28, 2025W.D.N.C.Defendant Win

Trustees of the Iron Workers Local Union No. 5 and Iron Workers Employers Association Employee Pension Trust; Iron Workers Trust Fund Local No. 5, Washington, D.C.; Iron Workers Apprenticeship and Tra v. Miracle Steel, Inc.

Jul 24, 2025D. Md.Defendant Win

Patterson

Jul 23, 2025W.D.N.C.Defendant Win

Woodard

Jul 23, 2025D. Md.Mixed Result

S.S.

Jul 23, 2025M.D.N.C.Dismissed

Venclauskas

Jul 23, 2025W.D.N.C.Defendant Win

Johnson v. Anne Arundel County, Maryland

Jul 21, 2025D. Md.Dismissed

Connolly

Jul 17, 2025D. Md.Dismissed

Board of Trustees, Sheet Metal Workers' National Pension Fund v. Tambe Metal Products, Inc. f/k/a Tambe H.V.A.C. Services, Inc.

Jul 16, 2025E.D. Va.Remanded

Hughes

Jul 15, 2025D.S.C.Dismissed

Lott

Jul 15, 2025S.D. W. Va.Dismissed

Carroway

Jul 15, 2025E.D.N.C.Remanded

Chan

Jul 15, 2025E.D. Va.Dismissed

Johnson v. City of Columbia Water

Jul 9, 2025D.S.C.Defendant Win

Gomez Ovando v. Mountaire Farms Inc.

Jun 20, 2025E.D.N.C.Defendant Win

Lilly

Jun 17, 2025D. Md.Defendant Win

Colon

Jun 10, 2025D.S.C.Defendant Win

White

Jun 5, 2025E.D. Va.Remanded

Garten Trucking LC v. NLRB

Jun 2, 20254th CircuitMixed Result

Ubokudom

Jun 2, 2025D.S.C.Dismissed

NLRB v. Garten Trucking LC

Jun 2, 20254th CircuitMixed Result

Aziz

Jun 2, 2025D. Md.Defendant Win

Reaves

Jun 2, 2025D.S.C.Dismissed

Buchanan

Jun 2, 2025D.S.C.Mixed Result

Davis

May 30, 2025E.D.N.C.Defendant Win

Spitalnick

May 22, 2025D. Md.Defendant Win

Liberto Dodson v. Lutheran Village at Miller's Grant

May 22, 2025D. Md.Defendant Win

Perkins

May 12, 2025D. Md.Dismissed

Glanville

May 9, 2025D. Md.Dismissed

Futrell

May 8, 2025E.D.N.C.Dismissed

Fitch

May 8, 2025D. Md.Defendant Win

Acosta

May 7, 2025D. Md.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.