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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 1,784 published rulings we track here (1976–2026), 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 1,784 published rulings we track in the Ninth Circuit.

Defendant Win
677 (38%)
Plaintiff Win
312 (17%)
Dismissed
304 (17%)
Remanded
225 (13%)
Mixed Result
135 (8%)
Settlement
131 (7%)

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 1,750 rulings we could classify by stage were decided.

Appeal
648 (37%)

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
174 (10%)

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 174 summary-judgment rulings here, 108 ended the case in the employer’s favor and 66 let the worker’s claims continue.

Motion to dismiss
676 (39%)

An early request — usually by the employer — to throw the case out before any evidence is gathered.

Trial verdict
43 (2%)

A judge or jury heard the evidence and reached a decision. Relatively few disputes get this far.

Settlement / consent decree
131 (7%)

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
65 (4%)

A decision entered because one side did not respond to the case at all.

Other rulings
13 (1%)

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

Kryzhanovskiy

Sep 13, 2024E.D. Cal.Settlement

Moore

Sep 12, 2024E.D. Cal.Remanded

Ball

Sep 10, 2024D. Nev.Dismissed

Garate

Sep 10, 2024S.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Heid

Aug 30, 2024S.D. Cal.Settlement

Thomson

Aug 29, 2024D. Nev.Mixed Result

Heredia

Aug 27, 2024D. Ariz.Plaintiff Win

Matthews

Aug 26, 2024D. Or.Defendant Win

Granados

Aug 26, 2024S.D. Cal.Settlement

David B. Aleman v. Airgas USA, LLC

Aug 26, 2024C.D. Cal.Remanded

Khamnayev

Aug 23, 2024D. Or.Defendant Win

Goodwin

Aug 23, 2024D. Nev.Dismissed

Borodaenko

Aug 21, 2024N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Holifield

Aug 20, 2024S.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Brandon Alexander v. Wayfair, LLC

Aug 19, 2024C.D. Cal.Remanded

Austin Lopez v. Amazon.com Services LLC

Aug 19, 2024C.D. Cal.Remanded

Burgos

Aug 16, 2024N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Bowie

Aug 16, 2024N.D. Cal.Dismissed

Bala

Aug 12, 2024D. Or.Plaintiff Win

Perez-Cruet

Aug 12, 2024S.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Rodriguez

Aug 12, 2024N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Russo

Aug 9, 2024N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Pietracatello

Aug 8, 2024D. Or.Defendant Win

PAMCAH-UA Local 675 Pension Fund v. Gordon Mechanical LLC, a Hawaii limited liability company

Aug 7, 2024D. Haw.Plaintiff Win

Regional Local Union Nos. 846 and 847, International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers, AFL-CIO v. LSRI, LLC

Aug 7, 2024D. Or.Dismissed

Parrish

Aug 7, 2024D. Or.Mixed Result

Sangster

Jul 11, 2024N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Valenzuela

Jul 9, 2024D. Ariz.Plaintiff Win

Goins

Jul 8, 2024N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Lamar Myers v. General Auto Service and Repair Inc.

Jul 8, 2024C.D. Cal.Dismissed

Ramirez

Jul 8, 2024D. Ariz.Plaintiff Win

Martinez

Jul 2, 2024S.D. Cal.Remanded

Lopez

Jun 28, 2024N.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Bonetti

Jun 27, 2024N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Solis

Jun 26, 2024N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Board of Trustees of the Construction Industry and Laborers Health and Welfare Trust v. Bottom Line Construction

Jun 24, 2024D. Nev.Plaintiff Win

Vega

Jun 24, 2024D. Ariz.Settlement

Aguilar-Padilla

Jun 21, 2024D. Or.Plaintiff Win

Anderson

Jun 18, 2024N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Reno v. Western Cab Company

Jun 17, 2024D. Nev.Plaintiff Win

Nottbohm

Jun 13, 2024N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Ashley Hershey v. Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings

Jun 11, 2024C.D. Cal.Remanded

Pipich

Jun 7, 2024S.D. Cal.Settlement

Nettles

Jun 6, 2024N.D. Cal.Remanded

Pomer

Jun 5, 2024D. Nev.Settlement

Dominique Zavala v. FedEx Ground Package System, Inc.

Jun 4, 2024C.D. Cal.Remanded

Board of Trustees of the Teamsters Local 631 Security Fund for Southern Nevada v. CY Expo, LLC

Jun 3, 2024D. Nev.Plaintiff Win

Berg

Jun 3, 2024S.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Hiyas

May 31, 2024D. Nev.Dismissed

Lovig

May 31, 2024N.D. Cal.Dismissed

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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.