Skip to main content

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

Dickson

Jun 23, 2021D. Nev.Mixed Result

Board of Trustees of the Glaziers, Architectural Metal & Glass Workers Local Union 1399 Health & Welfare Trust v. Summit Commercial Floors, Inc.

Jun 23, 2021S.D. Cal.Settlement

Yahoo! Inc. v. National Union Fire Insurance

Jun 23, 20219th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Hassell

Jun 21, 2021N.D. Cal.Dismissed

Barr v. Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings

Jun 17, 2021S.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Adams

Jun 17, 2021N.D. Cal.Dismissed

Donahue

Jun 16, 2021N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Flores

Jun 16, 2021D. Ariz.Remanded

Strojnik

Jun 15, 2021S.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Smith v. Kaiser Foundation Hospitals

Jun 15, 2021S.D. Cal.Settlement

Adkins

Jun 14, 2021D. Or.Remanded

Wehner

Jun 14, 2021N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

George Jones v. Shoyebul Islam

Jun 14, 2021C.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Mendez

Jun 11, 2021D. IdahoDismissed

Sanai

Jun 10, 2021N.D. Cal.Settlement

Fairchild

Jun 8, 2021S.D. Cal.Dismissed

Brown

Jun 7, 2021W.D. Wash.Dismissed

Kincheloe

Jun 7, 2021N.D. Cal.Dismissed

Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West v. HCA Healthcare

Jun 7, 2021C.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Garcia

Jun 4, 2021S.D. Cal.Dismissed

Banks

Jun 4, 2021S.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Theresa Brooke v. Tides Hospitality LLC

Jun 4, 2021C.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Fletcher

Jun 3, 2021D. IdahoDismissed

De Bernardi v. City and County of San Francisco

Jun 1, 2021N.D. Cal.Settlement

Winsor

Jun 1, 2021N.D. Cal.Dismissed

Hoofard

May 28, 2021D. Or.Defendant Win

Cleveland v. The Behemoth

May 28, 2021S.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Ochoa

May 28, 2021S.D. Cal.Dismissed

Stovall

May 28, 2021N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Yoshikawa

May 27, 2021D. Haw.Remanded

Murphy v. The Finish Line, Inc.

May 27, 2021N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Garcia-Herrera

May 26, 2021D. Or.Remanded

Yamada

May 25, 2021D. Haw.Defendant Win

Costantini

May 25, 2021N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Avalos

May 25, 2021E.D. Cal.Remanded

Lutge

May 25, 2021E.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Yamada

May 24, 2021D. Haw.Defendant Win

Trustees Of The Employee Painters' Trust v. Silverton Glass, LLC

May 21, 2021D. Or.Plaintiff Win

Charles Scott v. Gate Gourmet, Inc.

May 21, 2021C.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Borelli

May 21, 2021E.D. Cal.Settlement

Vasquez

May 21, 2021D. Ariz.Mixed Result

Strojnik

May 21, 2021D. Ariz.Dismissed

Board of Trustees of the Glaziers, Architectural Metal & Glass Workers Local Union 1399 Health & Welfare Trust v. Summit Commercial Floors, Inc.

May 20, 2021S.D. Cal.Dismissed

Eastman

May 20, 2021N.D. Cal.Dismissed

Mario V. v. Alisal Union School District

May 20, 2021N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Walker

May 19, 2021D. IdahoDefendant Win

Kurk

May 19, 2021E.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Cobbin-Richardson

May 18, 2021D. Nev.Dismissed

Al-Sadeai

May 18, 2021S.D. Cal.Remanded

Dumaguindin

May 18, 2021C.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Showing 2,7512,800 of 5,351 rulings · Page 56 of 108

Browse Other Circuits

Explore employment rulings from the other federal circuits.

Facing something similar at work?Check your rights — free, private, no sign-up

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.