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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

International Longshore & Warehouse Union v. ICTSI Oregon, Inc.

Mar 15, 2013D. Or.Mixed Result

United Transportation Union v. Bnsf Railway Company

Mar 13, 20139th CircuitRemanded

Alex Corns v. Laborers International Union

Mar 7, 20139th CircuitMixed Result

Sonoma County Ass'n of Retired Employees v. Sonoma County

Feb 25, 20139th CircuitMixed Result

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Swissport Fueling, Inc.

Jan 7, 2013D. Ariz.Mixed Result

Carlos Valladares v. Susan Hubbard

Jan 4, 20139th CircuitDefendant Win

Compass Airlines, LLC v. Montana Department of Labor & Industry

Dec 27, 2012D. Mont.Plaintiff Win

Owcp

Dec 19, 20129th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Global Horizons, Inc.

Nov 29, 2012E.D. Wash.Mixed Result

Hooks

Nov 21, 2012D. Or.Defendant Win

Jenkins v. International Longshore & Warehouse Union

Nov 20, 20129th CircuitDefendant Win

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Global Horizons, Inc.

Nov 8, 2012D. Haw.Mixed Result

Owcp

Oct 23, 20129th CircuitDefendant Win

Ramirez

Oct 17, 2012N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Shek v. National Labor Relations Board, Region 32

Oct 17, 20129th CircuitDefendant Win

Jason Sonntag v. Nevada County

Sep 21, 20129th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Creative Networks, L.L.C.

Sep 20, 2012D. Ariz.Plaintiff Win

Hussein

Sep 20, 20129th CircuitDefendant Win

Department of Fair Employment & Housing v. Law School Admission Council Inc.

Sep 18, 2012N.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Equal Employment Opportunities Commission v. La Rana Hawaii, LLC

Aug 22, 2012D. Haw.Dismissed

James Helm v. Adam Christianson

Aug 16, 20129th CircuitDefendant Win

Dianne Knox v. California State Employees Ass

Aug 16, 20129th CircuitRemanded

Uprc

Aug 3, 20129th CircuitDefendant Win

Rosemary Greenlaw v. Tower Adams

Jul 26, 20129th CircuitDefendant Win

Arnold Aguirre v. J. Adamo

Jul 12, 20129th CircuitDefendant Win

Jarek Molski v. Conrad's La Canada Restaurant

Jul 11, 20129th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Fry's Electronics, Inc.

Jul 3, 2012W.D. Wash.Mixed Result

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Clark County

Jun 14, 20129th CircuitDefendant Win

City of Roseville Employees' Retirement System v. Orloff Fam Tr. UAD 12/31/01

Jun 7, 20129th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Bradford v. Union Pacific Railroad

Jun 1, 2012D. Ariz.Defendant Win

Miles Hall v. National Union Fire Insurance

May 31, 20129th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Evans Fruit Co.

May 24, 2012E.D. Wash.Mixed Result

Natalie Tomco v. Prada USA Corporation

May 24, 20129th CircuitDefendant Win

Bahadar Lakha v. Eric Holder, Jr.

May 22, 20129th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Fry's Electronics, Inc.

May 10, 2012W.D. Wash.Mixed Result

National Labor Relations Board v. San Luis Trucking, Inc.

May 1, 20129th CircuitPlaintiff Win

James Adam v. Eric H. Holder Jr.

Apr 26, 20129th CircuitRemanded

Gruma Corp. v. United Food & Commercial Workers Union, Local 99

Apr 5, 20129th CircuitDefendant Win

Powell

Mar 31, 2012E.D. Cal.Mixed Result

National Labor Relations Board v. Barstow Community Hospital

Mar 26, 20129th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Yamada

Mar 21, 2012D. Haw.Mixed Result

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Global Horizons, Inc.

Mar 16, 2012D. Haw.Mixed Result

Gilmore

Mar 8, 2012E.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Intersil

Mar 7, 2012N.D. Cal.Dismissed

Wilfredo Ramos-Tejada v. Eric Holder, Jr.

Feb 29, 20129th CircuitDismissed

Usfs

Feb 9, 20129th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Ollier

Feb 9, 2012S.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Metabolic Research, Inc. v. Scott Ferrell

Feb 9, 20129th CircuitDefendant Win

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Alia Corp.

Feb 6, 2012E.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Grimsley v. Charles River Laboratories, Inc.

Feb 3, 20129th CircuitDefendant Win

Showing 4,2014,250 of 5,351 rulings · Page 85 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.