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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

Williams v. The NFL Player Supplemental Disability Plan

Jan 3, 2020N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Mickey Gaines v. Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.

Jan 3, 2020N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Vahora

Jan 3, 2020E.D. Cal.Dismissed

Leemanuel Weilch v. OM Foods Pioneer Inc

Jan 2, 2020C.D. Cal.Dismissed

Zanoni

Dec 31, 2019D. Nev.Dismissed

Becerra

Dec 31, 2019E.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Eric Bahra v. County of San Bernardino

Dec 30, 20199th CircuitMixed Result

Clifton

Dec 30, 2019D. Nev.Defendant Win

Diaz

Dec 30, 2019N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Clark v. Clark County Human Resorce Devision

Dec 27, 2019D. Nev.Defendant Win

Julian

Dec 27, 2019D. Ariz.Settlement

Raul Uriarte-Limon v. Hoon-Yin Ho

Dec 26, 2019C.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Columbia Export Terminal, LLC v. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union

Dec 20, 2019D. Or.Defendant Win

Brooke

Dec 19, 2019S.D. Cal.Dismissed

Brooke

Dec 19, 2019S.D. Cal.Dismissed

Drevaleva

Dec 19, 2019N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Nash

Dec 19, 2019N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Guadalupe Bores v. Lime Crime, Inc.

Dec 19, 2019C.D. Cal.Remanded

Martin

Dec 18, 2019W.D. Wash.Plaintiff Win

Dunlap

Dec 18, 2019D. Nev.Defendant Win

Ruben Paul Gonzales v. Moros Cuban Restaurant

Dec 18, 2019C.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Redwind

Dec 17, 2019D. Or.Mixed Result

Nevada Restaurant Servs., Inc. v. Clark County

Dec 17, 20199th CircuitDefendant Win

Raquedan

Dec 16, 2019N.D. Cal.Settlement

Robson

Dec 13, 2019D. IdahoDefendant Win

Marvila Estrada Adame v. William Barr

Dec 13, 20199th CircuitRemanded

Michael White v. Sr. Leaders Severance Pay Plan

Dec 13, 20199th CircuitDefendant Win

Nelson Calzada v. William Barr

Dec 13, 20199th CircuitDefendant Win

Acosta

Dec 12, 2019D. Nev.Defendant Win

Adams

Dec 12, 2019N.D. Cal.Dismissed

Hyams

Dec 12, 2019N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Guido

Dec 11, 2019D. Ariz.Plaintiff Win

Guadalupe Salazar v. McDonald's Corp.

Dec 11, 20199th CircuitDefendant Win

Adams

Dec 10, 2019D. Mont.Defendant Win

Kazda

Dec 10, 2019N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

(CONSENT) Hopson v. Ross Stores, Inc.

Dec 10, 2019E.D. Cal.Settlement

Olga Gorbacheva v. Abbott Laboratories Edp

Dec 10, 20199th CircuitMixed Result

Mohammed

Dec 9, 2019N.D. Cal.Remanded

Peter Strojnik v. Four Sisters Inns, Inc

Dec 9, 2019C.D. Cal.Dismissed

Guadalupe Bores v. Lime Crime, Inc.

Dec 9, 2019C.D. Cal.Remanded

Clark v. CoreCivic, Inc.

Dec 6, 2019S.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Napleton Orlando Imports, LLC v. Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.

Dec 6, 2019N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Abraham

Dec 5, 2019D. Or.Mixed Result

Bradford v. Chevron USA Inc.

Dec 5, 2019N.D. Cal.Remanded

Brian Whitaker v. PQ Newport Beach Bakery, Inc.

Dec 4, 2019C.D. Cal.Dismissed

Abacuc Heras v. B-K Plaza, LLC et la

Dec 4, 2019C.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Shing

Dec 3, 2019N.D. Cal.Dismissed

Brian Whitaker v. La Goccia, Inc.

Dec 3, 2019C.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Chief Administrative Officer of the Occupational Safety and health Administration, Division of Industrial Relations of the Department of Business and Industry, State of Nevada v. Savage Services Corp

Dec 2, 2019D. Nev.Defendant Win

Frieri

Dec 2, 2019S.D. Cal.Settlement

Showing 3,6013,650 of 5,351 rulings · Page 73 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.