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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

Trustees of the N. NV Laborers Health & Welfare Trust Fund v. Kenneth M. Mercurio

Mar 2, 2022D. Nev.Plaintiff Win

Adams

Mar 2, 2022D. Nev.Dismissed

Brooks

Mar 2, 2022E.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Abdul-Haqq

Mar 1, 2022N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Smith v. Fidelity Workplace Services LLC

Mar 1, 2022N.D. Cal.Dismissed

Puana

Feb 28, 2022D. Haw.Dismissed

National Labor Relations Board v. Red Rock Resorts Inc.

Feb 28, 2022D. Nev.Defendant Win

Jose Valladares v. Smithfield Packaged Meats Corporation

Feb 28, 2022C.D. Cal.Remanded

Nghiem

Feb 23, 2022N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Gastelum

Feb 23, 2022E.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Petras

Feb 22, 2022D. Nev.Mixed Result

Shimose

Feb 22, 2022D. Haw.Dismissed

Kee Sook Ahn v. Getty Leasing, Inc.

Feb 22, 2022C.D. Cal.Remanded

Esther Mendez v. Levy Premium Foodservice LP

Feb 22, 2022C.D. Cal.Dismissed

Ronald Lockhart v. Logistics LLC

Feb 18, 2022C.D. Cal.Dismissed

Secretary of Labor, United States Department of Labor v. Valley Wide Plastering Construction Incorporated

Feb 17, 2022D. Ariz.Plaintiff Win

David Lopez v. M and A Gabaee

Feb 17, 2022C.D. Cal.Dismissed

Dean Waltz v. Wal-Mart Associates, Inc.

Feb 17, 2022C.D. Cal.Remanded

Adamwicz

Feb 16, 2022D. Nev.Remanded

Salesdrivers, Helpers and Dairy Employees, Local Union No. 683, International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. Pasha Automotive Services

Feb 16, 2022S.D. Cal.Defendant Win

The Women's Student Union v. U.S. Department of Education

Feb 16, 2022N.D. Cal.Dismissed

Shak

Feb 15, 2022S.D. Cal.Defendant Win

(PS) Pendarvis v. Elk Grove Self Help Housing Employees

Feb 15, 2022E.D. Cal.Dismissed

Colton Bryant v. Isela Briseno

Feb 14, 2022C.D. Cal.Remanded

Michelle Ramirez v. Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino

Feb 14, 2022C.D. Cal.Remanded

Foster

Feb 11, 2022N.D. Cal.Settlement

Melanie Delapaz v. 1605 PCH, LLC

Feb 11, 2022C.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Williams v. Redwood Toxicology Laboratory

Feb 10, 2022N.D. Cal.Dismissed

Secretary of Labor, United States Department of Labor v. Mesa Air Group Incorporated

Feb 10, 2022D. Ariz.Mixed Result

Brooks

Feb 9, 2022E.D. Cal.Defendant Win

CoreCivic of Tennessee v. International Union, Security, Police and Fire Professionals of America

Feb 9, 2022D. Ariz.Defendant Win

Ada Maria Benson v. Angel View Clearance Center

Feb 9, 2022C.D. Cal.Dismissed

Ada Maria Benson v. Novitas Solution Inc.

Feb 9, 2022C.D. Cal.Dismissed

Arac Burt v. Cannon Management LLC

Feb 9, 2022C.D. Cal.Remanded

Kim

Feb 8, 2022W.D. Wash.Dismissed

Adams

Feb 8, 2022D. Nev.Dismissed

Kelee Williams v. Robert Half International, Inc.

Feb 8, 2022N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Thornton

Feb 7, 2022W.D. Wash.Mixed Result

Reina Isabel Barahona v. Marriott International, Inc.

Feb 7, 2022C.D. Cal.Remanded

Garrett

Feb 4, 2022N.D. Cal.Dismissed

Fast

Feb 3, 2022D. Ariz.Mixed Result

Gabriel Dorsey v. Cabreras Family Restaurant, Inc.

Feb 3, 2022C.D. Cal.Dismissed

Mercado

Feb 2, 2022D. Or.Defendant Win

Zeigler

Feb 2, 2022D. Nev.Dismissed

Vega

Feb 1, 2022D. Ariz.Mixed Result

Gary Scherer v. Chukrala Isak

Feb 1, 2022C.D. Cal.Dismissed

Stephen H. Bafford v. Northrop Grumman Corporation

Feb 1, 2022C.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Thomasson

Jan 31, 2022E.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Dunievitz

Jan 31, 2022E.D. Cal.Dismissed

Schultz

Jan 28, 2022D. Or.Mixed Result

Showing 2,4012,450 of 5,351 rulings · Page 49 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.