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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

Lyons

Apr 8, 2021N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

San Joaquin County Employees' v. Travelers Casualty and Surety

Apr 8, 20219th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Waithaka

Apr 7, 2021W.D. Wash.Plaintiff Win

(PS) Ackers v. California Employment Development Department

Apr 7, 2021E.D. Cal.Dismissed

Gill

Apr 6, 2021W.D. Wash.Dismissed

Ward

Apr 6, 2021S.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Frias

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

Freedom Foundation v. Department of Labor & Industries

Apr 5, 2021W.D. Wash.Defendant Win

Langer

Apr 5, 2021S.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Drevaleva

Apr 5, 2021N.D. Cal.Remanded

Salazar

Apr 5, 2021D. Ariz.Remanded

Precision Industrial Contractors Inc v. Jack R. Gage Refrigeration Inc

Apr 2, 2021W.D. Wash.Defendant Win

Trotta

Apr 2, 2021D. Haw.Defendant Win

Norris

Apr 2, 2021N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

McCluer

Apr 1, 2021S.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Augborne

Mar 31, 2021D. Nev.Dismissed

Cabrera

Mar 31, 2021D. Nev.Mixed Result

California Spine and Neurosurgery Institue v. CIGNA Health and Life Insurance Company

Mar 30, 2021N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Barich

Mar 30, 2021N.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Frias

Mar 30, 2021E.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Lewis

Mar 30, 2021D. Ariz.Defendant Win

Martinez-Carranza

Mar 29, 2021D. Nev.Dismissed

Ralph

Mar 29, 2021S.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

(PS) Engelbrecht v. Union Bank

Mar 29, 2021E.D. Cal.Dismissed

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

Mar 26, 2021S.D. Cal.Settlement

Brown

Mar 26, 2021N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Fodera, Jr. v. Equinox Holdings, Inc.

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

Jose Jauregui v. Cytec Engineered Materials, Inc.

Mar 26, 2021C.D. Cal.Defendant Win

D.O.

Mar 26, 20219th CircuitDismissed

Alaei

Mar 25, 2021S.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Samantha Shafer v. Red Tie, LLC dba Red Tie Gentlemen's Club

Mar 25, 2021C.D. Cal.Settlement

Guri Gonzalez v. Jeff Culver Inc.

Mar 25, 2021C.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Stoutt

Mar 25, 2021E.D. Cal.Remanded

Bey

Mar 23, 2021D. Nev.Remanded

In Sun Kil v. Steven Elliot Edelson

Mar 23, 2021C.D. Cal.Remanded

Williams v. Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.

Mar 23, 2021E.D. Cal.Dismissed

Miguel Peralta Estrada v. Merrick Garland

Mar 23, 20219th CircuitRemanded

Capadanno

Mar 22, 2021W.D. Wash.Remanded

Young

Mar 22, 2021S.D. Cal.Defendant Win

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

Mar 22, 2021D. AlaskaDefendant Win

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Bay Club Fairbanks Ranch, LLC

Mar 19, 2021S.D. Cal.Settlement

Operating Engineers Health And Welfare Trust Fund For Northern California v. A1 Broom Service, Inc.

Mar 19, 2021N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Yeomans

Mar 19, 2021N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Carey

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

Whitfield

Mar 18, 2021D. Nev.Dismissed

Morgan

Mar 18, 2021S.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Cram

Mar 17, 2021D. Or.Dismissed

Acevedo

Mar 16, 2021E.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Taylor

Mar 15, 2021S.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Christine Owen v. Adam Stokes

Mar 15, 20219th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Showing 2,8512,900 of 5,351 rulings · Page 58 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.