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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 1,784 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 1,784 published rulings we track in the Ninth Circuit.

Defendant Win
677 (38%)
Plaintiff Win
312 (17%)
Dismissed
304 (17%)
Remanded
225 (13%)
Mixed Result
135 (8%)
Settlement
131 (7%)

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 1,750 rulings we could classify by stage were decided.

Appeal
648 (37%)

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
174 (10%)

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 174 summary-judgment rulings here, 108 ended the case in the employer’s favor and 66 let the worker’s claims continue.

Motion to dismiss
676 (39%)

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

Trial verdict
43 (2%)

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

Settlement / consent decree
131 (7%)

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
65 (4%)

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

Other rulings
13 (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 Ninth Circuit covers.

Recent Rulings in the Ninth Circuit

Massey

Feb 23, 2023N.D. Cal.Settlement

Okai

Feb 21, 2023S.D. Cal.Dismissed

Valencia

Feb 16, 2023N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Cathy Sypherd v. Lazy Dog Restaurants, LLC

Feb 10, 2023C.D. Cal.Settlement

Gastelum

Feb 8, 2023E.D. Cal.Dismissed

Hernandez

Feb 2, 2023N.D. Cal.Remanded

Catharine Keene v. Penske Truck Leasing Co. LP.

Feb 2, 2023C.D. Cal.Dismissed

Richter

Jan 31, 2023N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Bath

Jan 31, 2023E.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Jim Nicholas James v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Jan 31, 2023C.D. Cal.Remanded

Ian Robinson v. American International Group, Inc.

Jan 24, 2023C.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Thomas

Jan 23, 2023D. Ariz.Dismissed

Claudia Guzman Lopez v. CJ Logistics America, LLC

Jan 17, 2023C.D. Cal.Remanded

Smith v. Fidelity Workplace Services LLC

Jan 11, 2023N.D. Cal.Dismissed

Medimpact Healthcare Systems, Inc. v. IQVIA Holdings Inc.

Jan 10, 2023S.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Livingstone

Jan 9, 2023S.D. Cal.Settlement

Samuel Ramirez v. Builder Services Group, Inc.

Jan 5, 2023C.D. Cal.Remanded

Williams v. Jp World Enterprises Inc.

Dec 19, 2022E.D. Cal.Dismissed

Jimenez

Dec 15, 2022S.D. Cal.Dismissed

Goins

Dec 13, 2022N.D. Cal.Dismissed

Martin

Dec 6, 2022D. Nev.Dismissed

Rajaram

Nov 10, 2022N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Logan

Nov 9, 2022E.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Ortolivo

Nov 8, 2022N.D. Cal.Dismissed

Margarita Erguera v. CMG CIT Acquisition, LLC

Nov 8, 2022E.D. Cal.Settlement

Fry

Nov 7, 2022E.D. Cal.Remanded

Danner

Oct 26, 2022W.D. Wash.Dismissed

Malik Shakur v. YRC Inc.

Oct 26, 2022C.D. Cal.Dismissed

Austin v. ABC Legal

Oct 25, 2022N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Massey

Oct 24, 2022N.D. Cal.Settlement

Clayborne

Oct 24, 2022E.D. Cal.Settlement

Ventura

Oct 21, 2022E.D. Cal.Settlement

Martinez-Carranza

Oct 20, 2022D. Nev.Dismissed

Ba

Oct 12, 2022D. Or.Defendant Win

Abdul-Haqq

Oct 12, 2022N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Allison

Oct 11, 2022D. Nev.Dismissed

Correll

Oct 6, 2022S.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Diggs

Oct 6, 2022N.D. Cal.Dismissed

Robinson

Oct 6, 2022E.D. Cal.Remanded

Andersen

Oct 5, 2022N.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Erhart

Sep 30, 2022S.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Skinner

Sep 28, 2022N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Rojo

Sep 28, 2022D. Ariz.Defendant Win

Atkinson

Sep 23, 2022W.D. Wash.Remanded

Korttney Elliott v. 9800 Rush, LLC

Sep 21, 2022C.D. Cal.Dismissed

Service Employees International Union Local 121 RN v. Los Robles Regional Medical Center

Sep 20, 2022C.D. Cal.Dismissed

Rowe

Sep 19, 2022D. Nev.Dismissed

Halleman

Sep 16, 2022D. Nev.Dismissed

Donahue

Sep 16, 2022N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Bellone

Sep 16, 2022N.D. Cal.Dismissed

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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.