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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

Erhart

Aug 19, 2021S.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Kim

Aug 18, 2021W.D. Wash.Dismissed

Lewis

Aug 18, 2021E.D. Cal.Settlement

Parker

Aug 17, 2021D. Nev.Dismissed

Munoz

Aug 16, 2021D. Or.Mixed Result

Gomez

Aug 16, 2021N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

(PS) Jones v. Velocity Technology Solutions

Aug 16, 2021E.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Matthys

Aug 13, 2021D. Nev.Settlement

Lewis

Aug 13, 2021N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Guri Gonzalez v. Lizbeth Corona Bautista

Aug 13, 2021C.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Eshun

Aug 13, 2021E.D. Cal.Settlement

Samson Tug and Barge Co., Inc v. International Longshore and Warehouse Union

Aug 13, 2021D. AlaskaDefendant Win

Silbaugh

Aug 12, 2021W.D. Wash.Dismissed

Avalos

Aug 12, 2021E.D. Cal.Dismissed

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

Aug 12, 2021D. Ariz.Plaintiff Win

Juan Valencia v. Miriam E. Campos

Aug 11, 2021C.D. Cal.Remanded

Brooke

Aug 11, 2021E.D. Cal.Dismissed

Roe

Aug 11, 2021E.D. Cal.Remanded

Garcia

Aug 9, 2021W.D. Wash.Mixed Result

Cheyssial

Aug 9, 2021N.D. Cal.Dismissed

Blair

Aug 9, 2021E.D. Cal.Dismissed

Pappas

Aug 9, 2021E.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Trujillo

Aug 9, 2021E.D. Cal.Dismissed

Hubbard

Aug 6, 2021E.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Avalos

Aug 6, 2021E.D. Cal.Dismissed

Gastelum

Aug 6, 2021E.D. Cal.Dismissed

Harper

Aug 5, 2021D. Nev.Settlement

Craig

Aug 4, 2021N.D. Cal.Settlement

Douglas B. Scott v. Standard Insurance Company

Aug 4, 2021C.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Fletcher

Aug 3, 2021D. IdahoDismissed

Tapia

Aug 3, 2021S.D. Cal.Settlement

Neal F. Morrow v. Union Pacific Railroad Company

Aug 3, 2021C.D. Cal.Remanded

Adrian Taboada Heredia v. O Reilly Auto Enterprises, LLC

Aug 3, 2021C.D. Cal.Remanded

Holmes

Aug 2, 2021D. Nev.Dismissed

Hulbert

Aug 2, 2021N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Gharadaghian-Riccio

Aug 2, 2021D. Ariz.Defendant Win

Blankinship

Aug 2, 2021D. Ariz.Defendant Win

Tri-County Mechanical and Electrical, Inc. v. Local Union 41 of the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada

Jul 30, 2021D. Mont.Defendant Win

Parker

Jul 29, 2021N.D. Cal.Settlement

Tatum

Jul 29, 2021E.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Air Transp. Assn of America v. Wa Dept of Labor & Industries

Jul 29, 20219th CircuitDefendant Win

Loriann Anderson v. Service Employees Internationa

Jul 29, 20219th CircuitDefendant Win

Patricia Grossman v. Hawaii Government Employees' A

Jul 29, 20219th CircuitDefendant Win

Hunter

Jul 28, 2021D. Nev.Defendant Win

Scutt

Jul 28, 2021D. Haw.Defendant Win

Vuz

Jul 27, 2021S.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Sanchez

Jul 27, 2021N.D. Cal.Remanded

Michelle Raith v. International Guiding Eyes Inc.

Jul 27, 2021C.D. Cal.Dismissed

Magana

Jul 27, 2021E.D. Cal.Mixed Result

John

Jul 26, 2021D. IdahoDefendant Win

Showing 2,6512,700 of 5,351 rulings · Page 54 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.