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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

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Swift Transportation Co.

Apr 14, 1999D. Or.Settlement

Edward J. ZAVORA, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. PAUL REVERE LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendant-Appellee

Jun 11, 19989th CircuitRemanded

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Nalbandian Sales, Inc.

Apr 20, 1998E.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Union Pacific Railroad

Jan 23, 1998D. IdahoPlaintiff Win

Boykin v. Boeing Company

Oct 23, 19979th CircuitDefendant Win

21 Employee Benefits Cas. 1081, 97 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 3782, 97 Daily Journal D.A.R. 6400

May 20, 19979th CircuitRemanded

Jesus Gumban v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission San Francisco Unified School District

Feb 7, 19979th CircuitRemanded

Dell Hackett, and Other Similarly Situated Employees Eric R. Langford v. Lane County

Aug 2, 19969th CircuitDefendant Win

Fonovisa, Inc. v. Cherry Auction, Inc. Richard Pilegard, W.D. Mitchell, Margaret Mitchell

Jan 25, 19969th CircuitPlaintiff Win

American Medical International, Inc., and American Medical International, Inc. Executive Severance Plan v. William E. Valliant

Jan 16, 19969th CircuitRemanded

Eileen A. Cronyn v. Cigna Employee Benefits, Health Plan Corporation, and Does 1 Through 10, Inclusive

Jun 19, 19959th CircuitDefendant Win

GENERAL AMERICAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Lee CASTONGUAY; Jerry Fitzpatrick; Charles Kilmer, Et Al., Defendants-Appellants

May 9, 19959th CircuitDefendant Win

Rene Paul Germaine v. Eddie Meyers, Warden Attorney General for the State of California

Jan 20, 19959th CircuitDefendant Win

Ronald F. Garcia v. International Rehabilitation Associates Intracorps Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Jul 25, 19949th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Applicant-Appellant v. Gerald D.W. North, President of North & Barron, a Professional Corporation

Jul 11, 19949th CircuitRemanded

Hurley v. State of Oregon

Jun 17, 19949th CircuitPlaintiff Win

John Badea v. Employers Health Insurance Co. Orco Construction Company, and Rick Hewitt

May 27, 19949th CircuitDismissed

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Hanson-Loran Co.

Mar 25, 19949th CircuitDefendant Win

Badea v. Flowers

Dec 16, 19939th CircuitDefendant Win

Guam Society Of Obstetricians And Gynecologists v. Joseph F. Ada

Oct 8, 19939th CircuitMixed Result

John Badea v. United States Parole Commission

Sep 9, 19939th CircuitDefendant Win

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. LOCAL 350, PLUMBERS AND PIPEFITTERS, Defendant-Appellee

Jul 6, 19939th CircuitPlaintiff Win

F. Farah Etemad v. United States of America Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Apr 14, 19939th CircuitDefendant Win

Eugene P. Regan Michael Regan v. Manager of Employee Benefits Corporate Industrial Relations of Hughes Aircraft Company

Jan 13, 19939th CircuitDefendant Win

Darrel L. Hunt v. Employee Benefits Insurance Company, a California Corporation Successor to Ebi Insurance Company, an Oregon Corporation

Dec 11, 19919th CircuitDefendant Win

Arthuro Q. Bermudez v. Joseph F. Ada

Sep 24, 19919th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Arizona, Department of Administration

Sep 17, 1991D. Ariz.Settlement

Oscar Morris v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Donald W. Muse, Jane Doe Muse, Clarence Thomas

Sep 12, 19919th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. The Erection Company, Inc.

Mar 27, 19909th CircuitRemanded

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Pan American World Airways, Inc.

Mar 2, 19909th CircuitRemanded

Badea

Jan 22, 19909th CircuitRemanded

Ada

Jun 23, 19899th CircuitDefendant Win

Nelson v. Ada

Jun 23, 19899th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Townley Engineering & Manufacturing Company

Sep 19, 19889th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Guam Fresh, Inc. v. Joseph F. Ada

Jun 14, 19889th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. The Boeing Company

Apr 6, 19889th CircuitRemanded

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. General Telephone Company of Northwest, Inc

Feb 9, 19889th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Goodyear Aerospace Corporation

Apr 7, 19879th CircuitMixed Result

Antonietti (Gary D.) v. Servomation Corporation, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Jan 29, 19879th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Yates (Edward S.)

Feb 10, 19849th CircuitPlaintiff Win

American Home Assur. Co. v. Bureau Veritas

Feb 10, 19839th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Borden's, Inc.

Dec 7, 1982D. Ariz.Mixed Result

Employee Benefits Committee Of The Retirement System Of Hawaiian Telephone Company v. Eleanor Pascoe

Jun 23, 19829th CircuitDefendant Win

35 Fair empl.prac.cas. 472, 26 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 31,938 Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Jun 10, 19819th CircuitRemanded

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Northwestern Drug Co

Feb 3, 19819th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Beacom

Aug 15, 1980D. Ariz.Plaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Pacific Press Publishing Ass'n

Dec 28, 1979N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. OCCIDENTAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY OF CALIFORNIA, Defendant-Appellee

May 11, 19769th CircuitRemanded

Capital Cities Communications, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Feb 23, 1976N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Shelton

Mar 19, 1973W.D. Wash.Defendant Win

Showing 5,3015,350 of 5,351 rulings · Page 107 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.