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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 829 published rulings we track here (1976–2026), 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 829 published rulings we track in the Fourth Circuit.

Defendant Win
362 (44%)
Plaintiff Win
144 (17%)
Dismissed
118 (14%)
Mixed Result
102 (12%)
Remanded
61 (7%)
Settlement
42 (5%)

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 825 rulings we could classify by stage were decided.

Appeal
320 (39%)

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
159 (19%)

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 159 summary-judgment rulings here, 112 ended the case in the employer’s favor and 47 let the worker’s claims continue.

Motion to dismiss
259 (31%)

An early request — usually by the employer — to throw the case out before any evidence is gathered.

Trial verdict
22 (3%)

A judge or jury heard the evidence and reached a decision. Relatively few disputes get this far.

Settlement / consent decree
41 (5%)

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
21 (3%)

A decision entered because one side did not respond to the case at all.

Other rulings
3 (0%)

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

Krysztofiak

Mar 16, 2023D. Md.Defendant Win

Towers

Mar 1, 2023D.S.C.Defendant Win

Carmona

Feb 23, 2023D. Md.Dismissed

Garcia Garcia v. Bhav Gosal, Inc.

Dec 29, 2022D. Md.Settlement

Lutz

Dec 12, 2022D. Md.Mixed Result

Graham

Dec 12, 2022D. Md.Settlement

Edwards

Dec 7, 2022D. Md.Mixed Result

Frontier Communications Corporation v. NLRB

Dec 7, 20224th CircuitDefendant Win

NLRB v. Frontier Communications Corporation

Dec 7, 20224th CircuitDefendant Win

Ajisefinni

Nov 18, 2022D. Md.Defendant Win

Griffin

Nov 15, 2022W.D.N.C.Defendant Win

Long

Nov 14, 2022E.D.N.C.Defendant Win

Horsley

Nov 7, 2022D. Md.Defendant Win

Ramnarine

Nov 4, 2022D. Md.Plaintiff Win

Bittle

Oct 27, 2022W.D.N.C.Dismissed

Clifton-Carter

Oct 4, 2022E.D.N.C.Dismissed

Jackson v. Sprint/United Management Company

Oct 4, 2022D. Md.Mixed Result

Holder v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company

Sep 20, 2022D.S.C.Defendant Win

Campbell

Sep 13, 2022D. Md.Defendant Win

Witherspoon

Aug 29, 2022E.D.N.C.Defendant Win

Robbins

Aug 16, 2022D. Md.Dismissed

Hobson

Aug 1, 2022D. Md.Mixed Result

Robertson

Jul 27, 2022D. Md.Defendant Win

Anderson

Jul 21, 2022W.D.N.C.Mixed Result

Marino

Jul 21, 2022D. Md.Dismissed

Penland

Jun 22, 2022D.S.C.Defendant Win

Thomas Harwood, III v. American Airlines, Inc.

Jun 17, 20224th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Thomas Harwood, III v. American Airlines, Inc.

Jun 17, 20224th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Dillard

Jun 13, 2022W.D.N.C.Mixed Result

Persinger

May 26, 2022S.D. W. Va.Settlement

Johnson v. Local Government Federal Credit Union

Apr 26, 2022W.D.N.C.Dismissed

Construction Laborers Pension Trust Southern CA v. Marriott International, Inc.

Apr 21, 20224th CircuitDefendant Win

Fonseca

Apr 19, 2022W.D.N.C.Defendant Win

Jones

Apr 11, 2022D. Md.Dismissed

Curtis

Apr 8, 2022D. Md.Settlement

Tedder

Mar 29, 2022D.S.C.Defendant Win

Lashley

Mar 24, 2022D.S.C.Defendant Win

Adams

Mar 23, 2022D. Md.Defendant Win

Jeffery

Mar 8, 2022S.D. W. Va.Plaintiff Win

Krehbiel

Mar 4, 2022D. Md.Defendant Win

Sanders

Mar 2, 2022D.S.C.Defendant Win

Talley

Mar 2, 2022D. Md.Dismissed

Adams

Feb 28, 2022D.S.C.Defendant Win

Tsague

Feb 25, 2022D. Md.Defendant Win

LEE v. MARKET AMERICA, INC.

Feb 16, 2022M.D.N.C.Defendant Win

Brinson

Feb 2, 2022E.D.N.C.Dismissed

Su, Secretary of Labor, United States Department of Labor v. Medical Staffing of America, LLC

Jan 14, 2022E.D. Va.Plaintiff Win

Trustees of the Plumbers and Gasfitters Local 5 Retirement Savings Fund v. Trinmar Contracting Services, Inc.

Jan 10, 2022D. Md.Plaintiff Win

Hurley

Jan 4, 2022D. Md.Defendant Win

Lazarte

Dec 6, 2021D. Md.Defendant Win

Showing 201–250 of 829 rulings · Page 5 of 17

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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.