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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

Antonio Fernandez v. Bom Seo Lee

Mar 14, 2021C.D. Cal.Dismissed

Martinez

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

Gill

Mar 11, 2021W.D. Wash.Defendant Win

Brumbach

Mar 11, 2021S.D. Cal.Remanded

Monserrat Lopez v. Adidas America, Inc.

Mar 11, 2021C.D. Cal.Dismissed

Smith v. Corecivic of Tennessee LLC

Mar 10, 2021S.D. Cal.Dismissed

Dutra

Mar 10, 2021N.D. Cal.Remanded

Adam Ghadiri v. AB Liquor Market

Mar 10, 2021C.D. Cal.Dismissed

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. GIPHX10 LLC

Mar 9, 2021W.D. Wash.Remanded

Sobaszkiewicz

Mar 9, 2021N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Handloser

Mar 9, 2021N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Isaiah Calles v. United Parcel Services, Inc.

Mar 9, 2021C.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Lacasse

Mar 9, 2021E.D. Cal.Dismissed

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

Mar 5, 2021D. AlaskaDefendant Win

Monplaisir

Mar 3, 2021N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Cabanillas

Mar 3, 2021D. Ariz.Plaintiff Win

Locals 302 and 612 of the International Union of Operating Engineers Construction Industry Health and Security Fund v. Barry Civil Construction Inc

Mar 2, 2021W.D. Wash.Plaintiff Win

Raines

Mar 2, 2021S.D. Cal.Dismissed

Kingston

Mar 1, 2021W.D. Wash.Dismissed

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

Mar 1, 2021D. AlaskaDefendant Win

Safeway, Inc. v. NLRB

Mar 1, 20219th CircuitDefendant Win

Hill

Feb 26, 2021D. Nev.Settlement

Michael Lopez v. Rita Asia Chow Lee

Feb 26, 2021C.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Vega

Feb 25, 2021S.D. Cal.Dismissed

Huerta

Feb 25, 2021N.D. Cal.Settlement

Harris

Feb 24, 2021D. Nev.Mixed Result

New Horizon Home Care, LLC v. Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital

Feb 24, 2021D. Nev.Dismissed

Strong

Feb 24, 2021D. Haw.Defendant Win

Huntsman

Feb 24, 2021N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Kendal

Feb 23, 2021W.D. Wash.Defendant Win

Wadas

Feb 23, 2021D. Haw.Defendant Win

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

Feb 23, 2021D. Ariz.Defendant Win

Carey

Feb 22, 2021E.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Medimpact Healthcare Systems, Inc. v. IQVIA Holdings Inc.

Feb 19, 2021S.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Amber Machowski v. HY5 LLC

Feb 19, 2021C.D. Cal.Defendant Win

James Rutherford v. Callens FV LLC

Feb 19, 2021C.D. Cal.Defendant Win

James Rutherford v. Lilyscotte, LLC

Feb 19, 2021C.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Baker

Feb 19, 2021D. Ariz.Plaintiff Win

Olsen

Feb 17, 2021D. Nev.Defendant Win

Iwaniszek

Feb 17, 2021D. Nev.Mixed Result

Nehemiah Kong v. The Pep Boys Manny Moe and Jack of California

Feb 17, 2021C.D. Cal.Remanded

Unite Here Local 30 v. Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation

Feb 16, 2021S.D. Cal.Dismissed

Hinds

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

Mar

Feb 16, 2021E.D. Cal.Settlement

Brooks

Feb 16, 2021E.D. Cal.Mixed Result

(PS) Ackers v. California Employment Development Department

Feb 16, 2021E.D. Cal.Dismissed

Askew

Feb 12, 2021D. Nev.Defendant Win

Ward

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

Oakley

Feb 11, 2021W.D. Wash.Dismissed

Board of Trustees for the Laborers Health and Welfare Trust Fund for Northern California v. Turner Group Construction

Feb 11, 2021N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Showing 2,9012,950 of 5,351 rulings · Page 59 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.