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

Petitt

May 17, 2021W.D. Wash.Dismissed

Garcia

May 17, 2021S.D. Cal.Dismissed

Lomma

May 17, 2021D. Haw.Dismissed

Duke

May 17, 2021N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Naveja

May 17, 2021E.D. Cal.Remanded

United Farm Workers v. The United States Department of Labor

May 14, 2021E.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Jones

May 13, 2021N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Woltkamp

May 13, 2021E.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Mario V. v. Alisal Union School District

May 12, 2021N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Aboumrad

May 11, 2021S.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Nieto

May 11, 2021N.D. Cal.Dismissed

(PS) Tapia v. The Boeing Company

May 11, 2021E.D. Cal.Dismissed

Pratt

May 10, 2021W.D. Wash.Dismissed

Norris

May 10, 2021N.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Ely

May 7, 2021D. IdahoDefendant Win

Van Osten v. Home Depot, U.S.A., Inc.

May 7, 2021S.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Children's Health Defense v. Facebook Inc.

May 7, 2021N.D. Cal.Dismissed

Zoller

May 7, 2021N.D. Cal.Dismissed

Nguyen

May 7, 2021N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Droesch

May 6, 2021N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Smith v. United Parcel Service, Inc.

May 6, 2021N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Droesch

May 6, 2021N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Berg

May 4, 2021W.D. Wash.Defendant Win

Uriel Estrada Marquez v. Gottstein Corporation

May 4, 2021C.D. Cal.Settlement

Gober

May 3, 2021D. Nev.Dismissed

Bowman

Apr 29, 2021D. Nev.Dismissed

Avalos

Apr 29, 2021E.D. Cal.Dismissed

Service Employees Intl. v. NLRB

Apr 28, 20219th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Marcie Hamilton v. JUUL Labs, Inc.

Apr 27, 2021N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Bautista

Apr 27, 2021N.D. Cal.Dismissed

Moses

Apr 27, 2021N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Andrew Mattioda v. Jim Bridenstine

Apr 26, 2021N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Mirza

Apr 26, 2021D. Ariz.Dismissed

Finton

Apr 26, 2021D. Ariz.Mixed Result

Salinas v. IA Lodging San Diego L.L.C.

Apr 23, 2021S.D. Cal.Dismissed

Lesevic

Apr 23, 2021N.D. Cal.Settlement

Nieto

Apr 23, 2021N.D. Cal.Dismissed

Board of Trustees of the Bakery and Confectionery Union and Industry International Pension Fund v. United States Bakery

Apr 22, 2021D. Or.Remanded

Su

Apr 22, 2021D. Haw.Dismissed

Kalaveras

Apr 22, 2021N.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Theresa Brooke v. Treasure Mountain Holdings LLC

Apr 22, 2021C.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Board of Trustees of the Bakery and Confectionery Union and Industry International Pension Fund v. United States Bakery

Apr 22, 2021E.D. Cal.Remanded

Probst

Apr 19, 2021D. IdahoDismissed

Sanders

Apr 19, 2021D. IdahoDefendant Win

Anthony Bouyer v. Mabek Co.

Apr 19, 2021C.D. Cal.Settlement

Eshun

Apr 14, 2021E.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Strojnik

Apr 13, 2021S.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Strojnik

Apr 12, 2021S.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Campbell

Apr 9, 2021D. IdahoMixed Result

Sanai

Apr 9, 2021N.D. Cal.Settlement

Showing 2,8012,850 of 5,351 rulings · Page 57 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.