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Employment Rulings in the Ninth Circuit

The Ninth Circuit covers the federal courts in Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. The rulings below come from the circuit's court of appeals and the federal trial courts within it.

Of the 5,351 published rulings we track here (19672026), 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 5,351 published rulings we track in the Ninth Circuit.

Defendant Win
1,800 (34%)
Dismissed
1,160 (22%)
Mixed Result
911 (17%)
Plaintiff Win
723 (14%)
Remanded
518 (10%)
Settlement
239 (4%)

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 5,218 rulings we could classify by stage were decided.

Appeal
2,095 (40%)

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
639 (12%)

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 639 summary-judgment rulings here, 379 ended the case in the employer’s favor and 259 let the worker’s claims continue; the rest resolved in other ways.

Motion to dismiss
2,007 (38%)

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

Trial verdict
83 (2%)

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

Settlement / consent decree
217 (4%)

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
95 (2%)

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

Other rulings
82 (2%)

Procedural decisions and orders that do not fit the main stages above.

States in This Circuit

Browse rulings from courts in each state the Ninth Circuit covers.

Recent Rulings in the Ninth Circuit

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local Union 1547 v. National Labor Relations Board

Aug 26, 20029th CircuitDefendant Win

Garber

Aug 26, 20029th CircuitMixed Result

Sipes

Aug 23, 20029th CircuitDefendant Win

Aaron Abada, on Behalf of Himself and All Others Similarly Situated v. Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., a California Corporation

Aug 21, 20029th CircuitRemanded

Termine

Aug 20, 2002C.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Gantenbein

Aug 19, 20029th CircuitDefendant Win

Hewitt

Aug 16, 20029th CircuitRemanded

Rex L. Bothell v. Phase Metrics, Inc.

Aug 13, 20029th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Carol Adams v. Synthes Spine Company, Lp

Aug 8, 20029th CircuitDefendant Win

Heller

Jul 30, 20029th CircuitRemanded

Roberto Hernandez Miranda v. Clark County, Nevada Morgan Harris Thomas Rigsby

Jul 24, 20029th CircuitRemanded

Domingo Alexander v. Director, Office of Workers Compensation Programs Triple a MacHine Shop, Inc.

Jul 16, 20029th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Elaine Chao, Secretary of Labor, United States Department of Labor v. Bremerton Metal Trades Council, Afl-Cio

Jun 25, 20029th CircuitDefendant Win

Suzuki Motor Corporation and American Suzuki Motor Corporation v. Consumers Union of United States, Inc., a Non-Profit New York Corporation

Jun 25, 20029th CircuitRemanded

Dyan A. Truesdell v. Southern California Permanente Medical Group, a Partnership and the Hospital and Service Employees International Union, Local 399

Jun 20, 20029th CircuitDefendant Win

Adamson

Jun 18, 20029th CircuitRemanded

Postmus

Jun 17, 20029th CircuitDefendant Win

Ostby

Jun 11, 2002C.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Calstar LLC v. First Union National Bank

May 23, 20029th CircuitRemanded

Erwin

May 20, 20029th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

May 16, 20029th CircuitRemanded

Solorzano-Ahumada

May 15, 20029th CircuitDefendant Win

Cisco Systems, Inc. v. California Workers Compensation Appeals Board

May 10, 20029th CircuitRemanded

Chao

May 10, 2002E.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries, Ex Rel. Darryl Richardson v. U.S. West Communications, Inc., a Colorado Corporation

Apr 26, 20029th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Helm

Apr 24, 20029th CircuitDefendant Win

Zimpfer

Apr 23, 20029th CircuitDefendant Win

Elizabeth

Apr 22, 20029th CircuitDefendant Win

National Labor Relations Board v. Flat Dog Productions

Apr 18, 20029th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Guerrera

Apr 16, 20029th CircuitDefendant Win

Union Pacific Railroad v. Coast Packing Co.

Apr 11, 2002C.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Watada

Apr 11, 2002D. Haw.Dismissed

Watada

Apr 11, 2002D. Haw.Dismissed

Webb

Apr 4, 20029th CircuitMixed Result

Las Vegas Sands, Inc. v. Culinary Workers' Local Union 226

Apr 2, 20029th CircuitDismissed

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Micron Technology, Inc.

Mar 28, 20029th CircuitDefendant Win

Thomas

Mar 26, 2002D. Or.Mixed Result

Edward Almada, Husband Mary Almada, Wife v. Allstate Insurance Company, a Foreign Corp.

Mar 26, 20029th CircuitDefendant Win

United Food & Commercial Workers Union, Local 1036 v. National Labor Relations Board

Mar 25, 20029th CircuitDefendant Win

United Food & Commercial Workers Union, Local 1036 v. National Labor Relations Board

Mar 25, 20029th CircuitDefendant Win

Gardner v. State Bar Of Nevada

Mar 21, 20029th CircuitDefendant Win

Tu

Mar 15, 2002S.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Joseph R. Scamihorn, Jr. v. General Truck Drivers, Office, Food and Warehouse Union, Local 952 Albertson's, Inc.

Mar 4, 20029th CircuitRemanded

Walker

Feb 25, 20029th CircuitDefendant Win

Parker Johnston v. Director, Office of Workers Compensation Programs Matson Terminals, Inc., Self-Insured Employer

Feb 22, 20029th CircuitDefendant Win

Sheldon

Feb 21, 20029th CircuitDefendant Win

Green

Feb 20, 20029th CircuitDefendant Win

Adams

Feb 19, 2002C.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Adams

Feb 19, 2002C.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Alfred Branco Edward Branco Steven Branco v. Ufcw-Northern California Employers Joint Pension Plan

Feb 11, 20029th CircuitRemanded

Showing 5,1015,150 of 5,351 rulings · Page 103 of 108

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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.