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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

Wayne Yarian v. All Freight Carriers, Inc.

Jan 31, 2020C.D. Cal.Remanded

Stewart

Jan 30, 2020D. Or.Mixed Result

Armentrout

Jan 28, 2020W.D. Wash.Dismissed

Munger

Jan 27, 2020D. Or.Plaintiff Win

Laborers' International Union of North America, Local 169 v. The Penta Building Group, Inc.

Jan 27, 2020D. Nev.Plaintiff Win

Heyman

Jan 27, 2020D. Nev.Defendant Win

Carpenters Southwest Administrative Corporation v. J and R P Development Corp.

Jan 22, 2020C.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Tramon Wilson-Davis v. SSP America, Inc.

Jan 21, 2020C.D. Cal.Remanded

Swinton

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

Penning

Jan 16, 2020N.D. Cal.Dismissed

Leon Belaustegui v. International Longshore and Warehouse Union

Jan 16, 2020C.D. Cal.Dismissed

Osegueda

Jan 15, 2020E.D. Cal.Settlement

Peter Strojnik, Sr. v. 1309 West Shaw, LLC

Jan 14, 2020E.D. Cal.Dismissed

Haley

Jan 13, 2020N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Magnum Property Investments, LLC v. Jose M. Quezada

Jan 10, 2020C.D. Cal.Remanded

Miller-Garcia

Jan 8, 2020N.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Barajas-Quijada

Jan 7, 2020E.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Lea Wagenstein v. Cigna Life Ins. Co.

Jan 7, 20209th CircuitRemanded

Regaspi

Jan 6, 2020D. Nev.Dismissed

Kramlich

Jan 3, 2020D. Mont.Dismissed

Robert Saavedra v. Volkswagen Aktengesellschaft

Jan 3, 2020N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Eric Bahra v. County of San Bernardino

Dec 30, 20199th CircuitMixed Result

Clark v. Clark County Human Resorce Devision

Dec 27, 2019D. Nev.Dismissed

Drevaleva

Dec 19, 2019N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Guadalupe Bores v. Lime Crime, Inc.

Dec 19, 2019C.D. Cal.Remanded

Dunlap

Dec 18, 2019D. Nev.Defendant Win

Raquedan

Dec 16, 2019N.D. Cal.Settlement

Rafael Arroyo, Jr. v. Thrifty Payless, Inc.

Dec 16, 2019C.D. Cal.Dismissed

Robson

Dec 13, 2019D. IdahoDefendant Win

Michael White v. Sr. Leaders Severance Pay Plan

Dec 13, 20199th CircuitDefendant Win

Nelson Calzada v. William Barr

Dec 13, 20199th CircuitDefendant Win

Adams

Dec 12, 2019N.D. Cal.Dismissed

Hyams

Dec 12, 2019N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Brown

Dec 11, 2019N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Guadalupe Salazar v. McDonald's Corp.

Dec 11, 20199th CircuitDefendant Win

Olga Gorbacheva v. Abbott Laboratories Edp

Dec 10, 20199th CircuitMixed Result

Foster

Dec 9, 2019N.D. Cal.Settlement

Yuriria Diaz v. Macys West Stores, Inc.

Dec 6, 2019C.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Yuriria Diaz v. Macys West Stores, Inc.

Dec 6, 2019C.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Mpoyo

Dec 6, 2019D. Ariz.Defendant Win

Bradford v. Chevron USA Inc.

Dec 5, 2019N.D. Cal.Remanded

Frieri

Dec 2, 2019S.D. Cal.Settlement

Garretson

Nov 27, 2019N.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Oregon Laborers-Employers Health & Welfare Trust Fund v. Baseline Industrial Construction, Inc.

Nov 26, 2019D. Or.Plaintiff Win

Olivo

Nov 25, 2019S.D. Cal.Settlement

De Leon v. Ricoh USA, Inc.

Nov 25, 2019N.D. Cal.Settlement

Ser Lao v. H&M Hennes & Mauritz, L.P.

Nov 25, 2019N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Adam Acosta v. District Council 36 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO

Nov 22, 2019C.D. Cal.Remanded

Schwendeman

Nov 20, 2019N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Gascon

Nov 20, 2019N.D. Cal.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.