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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

French

Apr 13, 2020S.D. Cal.Settlement

Rutherford

Apr 13, 2020S.D. Cal.Dismissed

McHenry

Apr 10, 2020D. Nev.Mixed Result

DeCosta

Apr 10, 2020D. Haw.Remanded

Arakji

Apr 10, 2020N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Martin

Apr 10, 2020E.D. Cal.Dismissed

Fulkerson

Apr 7, 2020D. Nev.Dismissed

Brooke

Apr 7, 2020E.D. Cal.Dismissed

Newell

Apr 7, 2020D. Ariz.Defendant Win

Trustees of the U.A. Union Local No. 290 Plumber, Steamfitter and Shipfitter Industry Pension Trust v. Puddletown Plumbing LLC

Apr 6, 2020D. Or.Dismissed

Bowman

Apr 6, 2020E.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Camilo

Apr 1, 2020N.D. Cal.Settlement

United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, AFL-CIO, CLC v. Vista Metals Corporation

Apr 1, 2020C.D. Cal.Dismissed

Wise

Mar 27, 2020E.D. Cal.Settlement

Tapley

Mar 25, 2020D. Or.Defendant Win

Deng

Mar 25, 2020D. Nev.Mixed Result

Williams v. U.S. Airways American Airlines, Inc.

Mar 23, 2020N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Merritt

Mar 20, 2020D. Ariz.Dismissed

(PS) Charles v. U.S. Office of Personnel Management

Mar 19, 2020E.D. Cal.Dismissed

Holmes

Mar 17, 2020D. Nev.Dismissed

Hernandez

Mar 17, 2020N.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Gutierrez Negrete v. Commercial Roofing Solutions Inc.

Mar 16, 2020D. Or.Plaintiff Win

Ormeno

Mar 12, 2020N.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Board of Trustees of the Employee Painters' Trust v. D Ciulla Flooring LLC

Mar 10, 2020W.D. Wash.Plaintiff Win

Mitchell v. Nye County, Nevada

Mar 10, 2020D. Nev.Dismissed

Wonderful Real Estate Development LLC v. Laborers International Union of North America Local 220

Mar 10, 2020E.D. Cal.Dismissed

Moreno

Mar 9, 2020S.D. Cal.Settlement

Adams

Mar 9, 2020N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Silverio Nevarez v. Costco Wholesale Corporation

Mar 9, 2020C.D. Cal.Remanded

757bd, LLC v. Natl Union Fire Ins. of Pitts.

Mar 9, 20209th CircuitDefendant Win

Crane

Mar 4, 2020E.D. Cal.Dismissed

Harris

Mar 2, 2020D. Nev.Dismissed

Manuel Franco v. Central Transport LLC

Mar 2, 2020C.D. Cal.Defendant Win

(PS) Chavez v. Del Sol Farm Labor Services Inc.

Feb 27, 2020E.D. Cal.Dismissed

Coleman-Fire

Feb 25, 2020D. Or.Plaintiff Win

Edmond Neal v. 3179 Los Feliz Partners LLC

Feb 19, 2020C.D. Cal.Dismissed

Stahl

Feb 19, 2020E.D. Cal.Mixed Result

National Union Fire Ins. v. Zillow, Inc.

Feb 18, 20209th CircuitMixed Result

Guadalupe Beltran v. Procare Pharmacy LLC

Feb 14, 2020C.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Norsoph

Feb 11, 2020D. Nev.Defendant Win

Spikes

Feb 11, 2020S.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Hill

Feb 11, 2020N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Barajas-Quijada

Feb 11, 2020E.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Stephanie Patton v. Forest Laboratories, Inc.

Feb 11, 20209th CircuitDefendant Win

Brown

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

Simmons

Feb 6, 2020D. Nev.Dismissed

Alabsi

Feb 6, 2020N.D. Cal.Settlement

Flores

Feb 4, 2020N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Howard Abselet v. Hudson Labor Solutions, Inc.

Feb 4, 20209th CircuitRemanded

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Herb Hallman Chevrolet d/b/a Champion Chevrolet

Feb 3, 2020D. Nev.Dismissed

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.