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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

Draughn

Dec 1, 2021D. Md.Defendant Win

Harry Pennington, III v. Fluor Enterprises, Inc.

Nov 30, 20214th CircuitDefendant Win

Cannada

Nov 19, 2021E.D. Va.Mixed Result

McCutcheon

Nov 9, 2021S.D. W. Va.Defendant Win

Plumbers & Pipefitters Local Union 521 v. Matheny and Sons General Contracting, LLC

Nov 9, 2021S.D. W. Va.Plaintiff Win

Sacks

Nov 9, 2021D. Md.Defendant Win

Sakalosh

Nov 5, 2021D.S.C.Mixed Result

Fonseca

Nov 4, 2021W.D.N.C.Dismissed

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Lindsay Ford LLC

Nov 2, 2021D. Md.Plaintiff Win

Adam Hall v. Thomas Hamilton

Oct 19, 20214th CircuitDefendant Win

Storch

Oct 18, 2021D. Md.Settlement

Flores

Oct 18, 2021D. Md.Settlement

Barber

Oct 8, 2021E.D. Va.Dismissed

Morales

Oct 8, 2021E.D. Va.Dismissed

Purnell

Oct 8, 2021E.D. Va.Dismissed

Alfaro

Oct 8, 2021D. Md.Plaintiff Win

Harvey

Oct 5, 2021D. Md.Defendant Win

Adams

Sep 30, 2021D.S.C.Defendant Win

Balderson

Sep 29, 2021S.D. W. Va.Plaintiff Win

Hamada

Sep 27, 2021D.S.C.Defendant Win

Macedo

Sep 24, 2021D. Md.Mixed Result

Nicholson

Sep 23, 2021E.D. Va.Defendant Win

Shadahan

Sep 21, 2021N.D. W. Va.Defendant Win

Cudd

Sep 16, 2021W.D.N.C.Defendant Win

Markus

Sep 14, 2021S.D. W. Va.Mixed Result

Oglesby

Sep 14, 2021D.S.C.Defendant Win

ADAMS

Sep 9, 2021M.D.N.C.Remanded

Townsend

Sep 9, 2021D. Md.Dismissed

Hathaway

Sep 7, 2021W.D.N.C.Plaintiff Win

Coon

Aug 16, 2021E.D.N.C.Mixed Result

Mohamed

Aug 13, 2021D. Md.Dismissed

Adams

Jul 27, 2021D.S.C.Plaintiff Win

Davis

Jul 22, 2021D.S.C.Defendant Win

Rivera

Jul 20, 2021D. Md.Defendant Win

Driskell

Jul 19, 2021W.D.N.C.Plaintiff Win

Lupardus

Jul 6, 2021S.D. W. Va.Settlement

Molina

Jul 6, 2021D. Md.Settlement

Bellon

Jun 28, 2021N.D. W. Va.Defendant Win

Michael Peck v. U.S. Department of Labor

Jun 21, 20214th CircuitDefendant Win

Tecnocap, LLC v. NLRB

Jun 17, 20214th CircuitMixed Result

Giron

Jun 17, 2021W.D.N.C.Dismissed

Gue

Jun 14, 2021D. Md.Settlement

Gilmore

May 12, 2021D. Md.Dismissed

Michael Peck v. U.S. Department of Labor

Apr 30, 20214th CircuitDefendant Win

Denker

Apr 28, 2021W.D.N.C.Mixed Result

Boyd

Apr 15, 2021D. Md.Plaintiff Win

Bellamy

Apr 1, 2021D. Md.Dismissed

DENNIS. SANDHILLS EMERGENCY PHYSICIANS, P.A.

Mar 30, 2021M.D.N.C.Mixed Result

Swanson

Mar 25, 2021E.D.N.C.Defendant Win

Jones

Mar 24, 2021D. Md.Settlement

Showing 251–300 of 829 rulings · Page 6 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.