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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

Quezada-Gomez

Jul 30, 20019th CircuitDismissed

Lua

Jul 23, 20019th CircuitDefendant Win

Louis

Jul 17, 20019th CircuitMixed Result

Western Select Securities, Inc. v. San Francisco City & County Employees' Retirement System

Jul 12, 20019th CircuitDefendant Win

Estrada

Jul 11, 20019th CircuitRemanded

California-Nevada Methodist Homes, Inc. v. Federal Emergency Management Agency

Jul 10, 2001N.D. Cal.Dismissed

Roach

Jul 6, 20019th CircuitDefendant Win

G & G Fire Sprinklers, Inc. v. Arthur S. Lujan, an Individual in His Official Capacity as Labor Commissioner of the State of California

Jul 2, 20019th CircuitRemanded

Trustees of the Construction Industry & Laborers Health & Welfare Trust v. Desert Valley Landscape & Maintenance, Inc.

Jun 28, 2001D. Nev.Plaintiff Win

Kelada

Jun 25, 20019th CircuitDefendant Win

Foster

Jun 19, 2001D. Haw.Defendant Win

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

Jun 13, 2001D. Ariz.Plaintiff Win

Tapia

Jun 6, 20019th CircuitDefendant Win

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

May 17, 20019th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Teamsters Local Union 58 v. BOC Gases

May 16, 20019th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Buster

May 16, 20019th CircuitPlaintiff Win

American Postal Workers Union v. United States Postal Service

May 15, 20019th CircuitDefendant Win

Walls

May 11, 20019th CircuitDefendant Win

Laughon

Apr 30, 20019th CircuitDefendant Win

Nor-Cal Ready Mix, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Apr 30, 20019th CircuitDefendant Win

Laughon v. Int'l Alliance Stage Employees

Apr 30, 20019th CircuitDefendant Win

San Francisco Web Pressman & Prepress Union Local No. 4 v. Santa Cruz County Sentinel Newspaper

Apr 25, 20019th CircuitDefendant Win

Patrick

Apr 25, 20019th CircuitDefendant Win

Federation of Agents & International Representatives v. United Foods & Commercial Workers Union, Local 101

Apr 23, 20019th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Watson Laboratories, Inc. v. Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, Inc.

Apr 20, 2001C.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Lutz

Apr 20, 20019th CircuitRemanded

Jay Webster Janet Webster, Husband and Wife and the Marital Communitycomposed Thereof v. Public School Employees of Washington, Inc.

Apr 18, 20019th CircuitMixed Result

Addeo

Apr 18, 20019th CircuitDefendant Win

Hampton

Apr 18, 20019th CircuitDefendant Win

USF Reddaway, Inc. v. Teamsters Union, Local 162

Apr 11, 2001D. Or.Plaintiff Win

Sardagna

Apr 11, 20019th CircuitDefendant Win

Byron Ingram v. Martin Marietta Long Term Disability Income Plan for Salaried Employees of Transferred Ge Operations, an Erisa Plan

Apr 4, 20019th CircuitRemanded

Doris Rowe,plaintiff-Appellant v. Laidlaw Transit, Inc., a Foreigncorporation,defendant-Appellee

Apr 4, 20019th CircuitDefendant Win

United States of America, Exrel., Insoon Lee v. Smithkline Beecham, Inc. Smithkline Beecham Clinical Laboratories Does 1-100

Apr 2, 20019th CircuitRemanded

Estrada

Mar 30, 20019th CircuitDefendant Win

United Steelworkers of America v. National Labor Relations Board

Mar 29, 20019th CircuitDefendant Win

Vasheresse

Mar 28, 2001N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Badaoui-Najjar

Mar 28, 20019th CircuitDefendant Win

American Medical International, Inc.,plaintiff-Appellee v. National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh,defendant-Appellant

Mar 27, 20019th CircuitDefendant Win

Stevedoring Services of America v. Director, Office of Workers Compensation Programs

Mar 22, 20019th CircuitDefendant Win

Adam

Mar 20, 2001D. Or.Defendant Win

Laborers Health & Welfare Trust Fund v. Diablo Landscape Inc.

Mar 20, 20019th CircuitDefendant Win

Alejandro-DeLeon

Mar 15, 20019th CircuitDefendant Win

Plumbers & Pipe Fitters Local Union No. 442 v. Ford Construction Co.

Mar 14, 20019th CircuitDefendant Win

Elaine Chao, Secretary of Labor v. Symms Fruit Ranch, inc.occupational Safety & Health Review Commission

Mar 9, 20019th CircuitDefendant Win

Hawaii Teamsters and Allied Workers Union, Local 996,petitioner-Appellant v. United Parcel Service

Mar 7, 20019th CircuitDefendant Win

Most

Mar 5, 20019th CircuitDefendant Win

Roy Allan Slurry Seal v. Laborers International Union of North America Highway & Street Stripers/Road & Street Slurry Local Union 1184

Mar 2, 20019th CircuitDefendant Win

Roy Allan Slurry Seal v. Laborers International Union Of North America Highway And Street Stripers/Road And Street Slurry Local Union 1184, Afl-Cio

Mar 2, 20019th CircuitDefendant Win

Walker

Feb 28, 20019th CircuitDefendant Win

Showing 5,2015,250 of 5,351 rulings · Page 105 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.