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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

Simpson

Mar 11, 2025D.S.C.Dismissed

Drzewiecki

Mar 11, 2025D. Md.Remanded

Marsh

Mar 7, 2025D. Md.Defendant Win

Marsh

Mar 7, 2025D. Md.Settlement

Bell v. United States Department of the Treasury

Mar 6, 2025S.D. W. Va.Defendant Win

Aarow Electrical Solutions, LLC v. TriCore Systems, LLC

Feb 28, 2025D. Md.Defendant Win

Gross

Feb 26, 2025E.D.N.C.Settlement

Bingham

Feb 25, 2025D.S.C.Settlement

Campbell

Feb 25, 2025D. Md.Dismissed

Valentine

Feb 25, 2025D. Md.Remanded

Hintsa

Feb 20, 2025D. Md.Dismissed

Matamoros Canales v. OPW Fueling Components LLC

Feb 19, 2025E.D.N.C.Dismissed

Matamoros Canales v. OPW Fueling Components LLC

Feb 19, 2025E.D.N.C.Settlement

Fletcher

Feb 13, 2025D.S.C.Settlement

Albero

Feb 13, 2025D. Md.Dismissed

Lawtone-Bowles

Feb 12, 2025W.D. Va.Plaintiff Win

Workman

Feb 12, 2025W.D. Va.Plaintiff Win

Hollington

Feb 11, 2025D.S.C.Mixed Result

Zepeda

Feb 5, 2025D. Md.Dismissed

Demurjian

Feb 5, 2025D. Md.Settlement

Jones

Feb 4, 2025W.D.N.C.Dismissed

Weaver

Feb 4, 2025D.S.C.Defendant Win

Waring

Jan 31, 2025D.S.C.Plaintiff Win

Scott

Jan 30, 2025D. Md.Defendant Win

Su

Jan 29, 2025E.D.N.C.Plaintiff Win

T.S.

Jan 28, 2025D. Md.Mixed Result

Owens

Jan 28, 2025D. Md.Settlement

Stevens

Jan 27, 2025W.D.N.C.Dismissed

AZIMA

Jan 27, 2025M.D.N.C.Mixed Result

Altes

Jan 23, 2025D. Md.Dismissed

Acker

Jan 21, 2025D. Md.Settlement

Winsett

Jan 21, 2025D. Md.Plaintiff Win

Hughes

Jan 21, 2025D. Md.Settlement

Zuniga

Jan 17, 2025D. Md.Defendant Win

Davis

Jan 17, 2025D. Md.Dismissed

Ghumman

Jan 16, 2025D. Md.Plaintiff Win

Simms

Jan 16, 2025D. Md.Dismissed

Conway

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

Goodlaxson

Jan 13, 2025D. Md.Dismissed

Henderson v. S & K Security Consultants, Inc.

Jan 13, 2025D. Md.Dismissed

Anderson

Jan 13, 2025S.D. W. Va.Defendant Win

Hanigan

Jan 10, 2025E.D. Va.Dismissed

Rose

Jan 10, 2025D. Md.Dismissed

Dillon-Capps

Jan 8, 2025D. Md.Defendant Win

Adaeze Nwosu v. CBRE Group, Inc.

Jan 3, 20254th CircuitDismissed

Schoenholtz

Jan 2, 2025D. Md.Defendant Win

Torres

Jan 2, 2025E.D. Va.Plaintiff Win

Trustees Of The Laborers Trust Fund v. LCM Corporation

Jan 2, 2025W.D. Va.Plaintiff Win

Copes

Jan 2, 2025D. Md.Dismissed

Moore

Dec 31, 2024W.D.N.C.Defendant 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.