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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

Talavera

Jan 13, 2021E.D. Cal.Settlement

Barr v. Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings

Jan 12, 2021S.D. Cal.Dismissed

Baird

Jan 12, 2021N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Perez

Jan 12, 2021E.D. Cal.Remanded

Rose-Holliday

Jan 8, 2021W.D. Wash.Defendant Win

Joh

Jan 7, 2021N.D. Cal.Settlement

Brown

Jan 6, 2021N.D. Cal.Dismissed

Brian Whitaker v. Another Project LLC

Jan 6, 2021C.D. Cal.Dismissed

Johnson v. Canyon County, Idaho

Dec 31, 2020D. IdahoPlaintiff Win

Decker

Dec 30, 2020E.D. Cal.Settlement

Turner

Dec 30, 2020D. Ariz.Dismissed

Rosemary Garity v. Apwu Nat'l Labor Org.

Dec 24, 20209th CircuitDefendant Win

Nash

Dec 23, 2020N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

David Walker v. CBS Broadcasting Inc.

Dec 22, 2020C.D. Cal.Remanded

Ceron De Orozco v. Flagship Facility Services, Inc.

Dec 18, 2020S.D. Cal.Settlement

(PS) Reyes v. Kaiser Permanente

Dec 17, 2020E.D. Cal.Dismissed

Board of Trustees of the Western States Office and Professional Employees Pension Fund v. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 483

Dec 11, 2020D. Or.Plaintiff Win

Unite Here Local 30 v. Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation

Dec 10, 2020S.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Johnson v. Serenity Transportation, Inc.

Dec 10, 2020N.D. Cal.Settlement

Transunion

Dec 10, 20209th CircuitDefendant Win

Brelsford

Dec 7, 2020N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Aileen Rizo v. Fresno County Office of Education

Dec 3, 2020E.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Brett Adams v. Skagit Bonded Collectors

Dec 2, 20209th CircuitDismissed

Cooks

Nov 30, 2020N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Susan Ramirez v. United Parcel Service, Inc.

Nov 18, 2020C.D. Cal.Remanded

Romano

Nov 17, 2020S.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Pringle

Nov 13, 2020E.D. Cal.Dismissed

Nevada Power Company v. Trench France, S.A.S.

Nov 12, 2020D. Nev.Defendant Win

Canlas

Nov 12, 2020N.D. Cal.Dismissed

Alina Manukyan v. KinderCare Education at Work LLC

Nov 12, 2020C.D. Cal.Remanded

Smith v. K9 Games AZ LLC

Nov 10, 2020D. Ariz.Defendant Win

Barbee

Nov 10, 2020D. Ariz.Plaintiff Win

Adam Ghadiri v. Carpet and Linoleum City

Nov 3, 20209th CircuitDefendant Win

Linlor

Nov 2, 2020D. Nev.Dismissed

Adams

Oct 30, 2020D. Ariz.Defendant Win

Herrman

Oct 29, 2020D. Or.Plaintiff Win

Yih

Oct 27, 2020N.D. Cal.Dismissed

Price

Oct 22, 2020N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Ronald Pineda v. Abbott Laboratories Inc.

Oct 20, 20209th CircuitMixed Result

Philips

Oct 19, 2020N.D. Cal.Settlement

Kannan

Oct 19, 2020N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Guadalupe Beltran v. Procare Pharmacy LLC

Oct 19, 2020C.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Labarrere

Oct 9, 2020S.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Locals 302 and 612 of the International Union of Operating Engineers Construction Industry Health and Security Fund v. Reclaim Company LLC

Oct 8, 2020W.D. Wash.Plaintiff Win

Espinoza

Oct 8, 2020E.D. Cal.Settlement

NLRB v. Natural Life, Inc.

Oct 8, 20209th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Thondukolam

Oct 7, 2020N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Riley

Oct 7, 2020E.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Stoddart

Oct 7, 2020E.D. Cal.Settlement

Murphy v. The Finish Line, Inc.

Oct 5, 2020N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

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.