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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

State of Washington v. Matheson Flight Extenders Inc

Feb 10, 2021W.D. Wash.Dismissed

Curphey

Feb 10, 2021D. Ariz.Mixed Result

Capadanno

Feb 8, 2021W.D. Wash.Dismissed

Richey

Feb 8, 2021S.D. Cal.Settlement

Chung

Feb 8, 2021N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Navarro

Feb 8, 2021N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Jaime Ruiz v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.

Feb 8, 2021C.D. Cal.Dismissed

Gomez

Feb 8, 2021E.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Knapps

Feb 5, 2021N.D. Cal.Dismissed

George Avalos v. East Africa Humanitarian Organization Properties, Inc.

Feb 5, 2021E.D. Cal.Remanded

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

Feb 5, 2021D. Ariz.Plaintiff Win

Joseph

Feb 4, 2021W.D. Wash.Mixed Result

Roy

Feb 4, 2021D. Or.Defendant Win

Davis

Feb 3, 2021N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Boden

Feb 2, 2021D. IdahoMixed Result

Hackett

Jan 29, 2021GUDDismissed

Reyes

Jan 29, 2021N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Polee

Jan 29, 2021N.D. Cal.Settlement

Avalos

Jan 28, 2021E.D. Cal.Remanded

Sonico

Jan 27, 2021S.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Caldwell

Jan 27, 2021N.D. Cal.Dismissed

Strojnik

Jan 27, 2021E.D. Cal.Remanded

Lerner

Jan 26, 2021D. Nev.Dismissed

Langer

Jan 26, 2021S.D. Cal.Dismissed

James

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

Diaz

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

Aguilar

Jan 26, 2021N.D. Cal.Dismissed

Karapetian

Jan 25, 2021D. Nev.Dismissed

Villasenor

Jan 25, 2021N.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Rois-Mendez

Jan 25, 2021N.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Barrett

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

Employee Painters' Trust v. Dahl Construction Services Inc

Jan 22, 2021W.D. Wash.Defendant Win

Asencio

Jan 22, 2021W.D. Wash.Plaintiff Win

Vasquez

Jan 22, 2021N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Garcia

Jan 21, 2021S.D. Cal.Dismissed

Anderson

Jan 21, 2021N.D. Cal.Dismissed

Green

Jan 20, 2021D. Nev.Dismissed

Kessler

Jan 19, 2021W.D. Wash.Dismissed

Karnoski

Jan 19, 2021W.D. Wash.Dismissed

Edwards Vacuum LLC v. Hoffman Instrumentation Supply, Inc.

Jan 19, 2021D. Or.Plaintiff Win

Hopson

Jan 19, 2021E.D. Cal.Dismissed

Northwest Administrators Inc v. Ross Island Sand & Gravel Co

Jan 14, 2021W.D. Wash.Dismissed

Strojnik

Jan 13, 2021S.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Sanai

Jan 13, 2021N.D. Cal.Settlement

Miriam Maldonado v. SMV Housing, L.P.

Jan 13, 2021C.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Leemanuel Weilch v. RPM Jamba No. 5, Inc.

Jan 13, 2021C.D. Cal.Mixed Result

George Avalos v. Bridgestone Americas, Inc.

Jan 13, 2021E.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Talavera

Jan 13, 2021E.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Barr v. Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings

Jan 12, 2021S.D. Cal.Dismissed

Baird

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

Showing 2,9513,000 of 5,351 rulings · Page 60 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.