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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

Gessele

Nov 27, 2021D. Or.Defendant Win

Emilio Padilla v. Primerica, Inc.

Nov 24, 2021C.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Brasier

Nov 24, 2021D. Ariz.Defendant Win

Vincent Fried v. Wynn Las Vegas, LLC

Nov 18, 20219th CircuitRemanded

Proofpoint, Inc. v. Vade Secure, Incorporated

Nov 18, 2021N.D. Cal.Dismissed

Kudatsky

Nov 17, 2021N.D. Cal.Settlement

Adams

Nov 16, 2021D. Ariz.Plaintiff Win

Santos

Nov 15, 2021N.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Richard

Nov 15, 2021N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Manuel Banderas v. Pentair Water Pool and Spa, Inc.

Nov 15, 2021C.D. Cal.Remanded

Maystrenko

Nov 10, 2021N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Trees

Nov 9, 2021D. Or.Defendant Win

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

Nov 9, 2021S.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Dalfio

Nov 8, 2021S.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Lizabeth Gralnik v. DXC Technology Inc.

Nov 8, 2021C.D. Cal.Remanded

Stewart

Nov 5, 2021N.D. Cal.Dismissed

Warmack

Oct 29, 2021D. Ariz.Dismissed

Cattoche

Oct 28, 2021N.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Hubbard

Oct 28, 2021N.D. Cal.Settlement

Sanchez

Oct 28, 2021N.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Dalfio

Oct 27, 2021S.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Kourosh Kenneth Hamidi v. Service Emp. Int'l Union

Oct 26, 20219th CircuitDefendant Win

Foster

Oct 21, 2021N.D. Cal.Settlement

Green

Oct 18, 2021N.D. Cal.Dismissed

Board of Trustees of the Oregon Retail Employees Pension Plan v. Signature Northwest LLC

Oct 7, 2021D. Or.Plaintiff Win

Byrna Technologies, Inc. v. Duke Defense USA, Inc.

Oct 6, 2021D. Nev.Defendant Win

Bay Area Roofers Health & Welfare Trust Fund v. Platinum Roofing, Inc.

Oct 6, 2021N.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Guadagnini

Oct 1, 2021N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Haynes

Sep 29, 2021S.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Jackson v. Genentech, Inc.

Sep 29, 2021N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Harrington

Sep 23, 2021D. Nev.Defendant Win

Omar Luna v. Yes to Everything, LLC

Sep 23, 2021C.D. Cal.Dismissed

Vuz

Sep 22, 2021S.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Alexei Schutt v. Succulent Studios, Inc.

Sep 22, 2021C.D. Cal.Remanded

Raef Lawson v. Grubhub, Inc.

Sep 20, 20219th CircuitRemanded

Romo, Jr. v. Costco Wholesale Corporation

Sep 20, 2021S.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Kollar

Sep 16, 2021W.D. Wash.Defendant Win

(PS) Davis v. CA Public Employee Retirement System

Sep 15, 2021E.D. Cal.Dismissed

Tobias

Sep 13, 2021N.D. Cal.Dismissed

Smw Local Union 105 v. Titan Sheet Metal Inc.

Sep 10, 20219th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Corbett

Sep 9, 2021D. Nev.Dismissed

Wong

Sep 9, 2021D. Nev.Mixed Result

Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers, and Professional, Clerical, Public and Miscellaneous Employees, Local Union No. 533 v. Keolis Transit America, Inc.

Sep 8, 2021D. Nev.Remanded

Quezada

Sep 8, 2021N.D. Cal.Remanded

Gabriela Valdiviezo v. Laboratory Corporation of America

Sep 7, 2021C.D. Cal.Remanded

Dixon

Aug 30, 2021N.D. Cal.Settlement

Buckhorn

Aug 30, 2021N.D. Cal.Settlement

Salomon Estrada Gutierrez v. Merrick Garland

Aug 26, 20219th CircuitDefendant Win

Reyes

Aug 24, 2021N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Atakilti

Aug 20, 2021N.D. Cal.Remanded

Browse Other Circuits

Explore employment rulings from the other federal circuits.

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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.