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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 5,351 published rulings we track here (19672026), 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 5,351 published rulings we track in the Ninth Circuit.

Defendant Win
1,800 (34%)
Dismissed
1,160 (22%)
Mixed Result
911 (17%)
Plaintiff Win
723 (14%)
Remanded
518 (10%)
Settlement
239 (4%)

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 5,218 rulings we could classify by stage were decided.

Appeal
2,095 (40%)

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
639 (12%)

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 639 summary-judgment rulings here, 379 ended the case in the employer’s favor and 259 let the worker’s claims continue; the rest resolved in other ways.

Motion to dismiss
2,007 (38%)

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

Trial verdict
83 (2%)

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

Settlement / consent decree
217 (4%)

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
95 (2%)

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

Other rulings
82 (2%)

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

Hernandez-Garcia

Mar 21, 2023S.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Clifton Walker v. Kathleen M. Mayberry

Mar 20, 2023C.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Lydia Olson v. State of California

Mar 17, 20239th CircuitDefendant Win

Jardine Gougis v. Robert Hwang

Mar 17, 2023C.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Joshua Cuevas v. Christopher H. Crowe

Mar 17, 2023C.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Glazer Capital Management, L.p v. Forescout Technologies, Inc.

Mar 16, 20239th CircuitDefendant Win

Baird

Mar 16, 2023S.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Ceja

Mar 15, 2023S.D. Cal.Remanded

Willis

Mar 15, 2023N.D. Cal.Dismissed

Escobedo

Mar 15, 2023E.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Kabasele

Mar 14, 2023E.D. Cal.Settlement

Thomson

Mar 13, 2023D. Nev.Mixed Result

Kulik

Mar 13, 2023N.D. Cal.Settlement

Dennis Cooper v. Hesperia 2011, LLC

Mar 13, 2023C.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Figueroa

Mar 10, 2023D. Ariz.Dismissed

Melanie Delapaz v. Robert Kisang Kwon

Mar 10, 2023C.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Locals 302 and 612 of the International Union of Operating Engineers Construction Industry Health and Security Fund v. 509 Excavating LLC

Mar 7, 2023W.D. Wash.Mixed Result

Gilbert v. Bonfare Markets, Inc.

Mar 7, 2023E.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Lawrence

Mar 6, 2023W.D. Wash.Defendant Win

A.O.

Mar 6, 2023E.D. Cal.Mixed Result

McAndie

Mar 3, 2023W.D. Wash.Defendant Win

Petitt

Mar 3, 2023N.D. Cal.Settlement

Brian Keister v. Lhoist North America of Arizona, Inc.

Mar 2, 2023C.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Mendez

Mar 1, 2023D. IdahoPlaintiff Win

Morgan

Feb 28, 2023D. IdahoDefendant Win

Hernandez-Garcia

Feb 28, 2023S.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Wisk Aero LLC v. Archer Aviation Inc.

Feb 28, 2023N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Gomez

Feb 27, 2023S.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Massey

Feb 23, 2023N.D. Cal.Dismissed

Okai

Feb 21, 2023S.D. Cal.Dismissed

Theresa Brooke v. The Waterfront Hotel LLC

Feb 17, 2023C.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Valencia

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

Waithaka

Feb 14, 2023W.D. Wash.Mixed Result

McGhee

Feb 14, 2023N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Ana Ventura v. Model Properties, LLC

Feb 14, 2023C.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Bibi

Feb 10, 2023N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Cathy Sypherd v. Lazy Dog Restaurants, LLC

Feb 10, 2023C.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Ruffin

Feb 8, 2023S.D. Cal.Dismissed

Gastelum

Feb 8, 2023E.D. Cal.Dismissed

Sexton

Feb 8, 2023E.D. Cal.Dismissed

Alia Ashfaq v. Walt Disney Parks and Resorts US, Inc.

Feb 8, 2023C.D. Cal.Remanded

Brinkmeyer

Feb 7, 2023W.D. Wash.Mixed Result

Westfall

Feb 6, 2023D. Ariz.Plaintiff Win

Hernandez

Feb 2, 2023N.D. Cal.Remanded

Richter

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

Sonne

Jan 30, 2023D. IdahoDefendant Win

Oiyemhonlan

Jan 30, 2023N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

George Jones v. Billionaire Burgers Inc.

Jan 26, 2023C.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Jardine Gougis v. Matthew A. Flynn

Jan 26, 2023C.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Omar Luna v. Jeff Muchamel

Jan 25, 2023C.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Showing 1,9512,000 of 5,351 rulings · Page 40 of 108

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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.