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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

Hamma

Mar 23, 2009E.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Ramirez

Mar 19, 20099th CircuitDefendant Win

Ramirez

Mar 19, 20099th CircuitDefendant Win

Freund

Mar 17, 20099th CircuitDefendant Win

Freund

Mar 17, 20099th CircuitDefendant Win

Virginia Mason Medical Center v. National Labor Relations Board

Mar 10, 20099th CircuitDefendant Win

Virginia Mason v. NLRB

Mar 10, 20099th CircuitDefendant Win

Baker

Mar 4, 20099th CircuitDefendant Win

Baker

Mar 4, 20099th CircuitDefendant Win

Lapeter

Mar 4, 20099th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Federal Express Corp.

Mar 3, 20099th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Eeoc v. Fedex Corp

Mar 3, 20099th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Davis

Feb 26, 20099th CircuitRemanded

Virginia Mason v. NLRB

Feb 25, 20099th CircuitDefendant Win

Laisure-Radke

Feb 20, 20099th CircuitDismissed

Laisure-Radke

Feb 20, 20099th CircuitDefendant Win

Ahlmeyer

Feb 18, 20099th CircuitDefendant Win

Ahlmeyer

Feb 18, 20099th CircuitDefendant Win

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Republic Services, Inc.

Feb 16, 2009D. Nev.Mixed Result

Halladay Ex Rel. AH v. WENATCHEE SCHOOL DIST.

Feb 13, 2009E.D. Wash.Defendant Win

Mundi

Feb 11, 20099th CircuitDefendant Win

Mundi

Feb 11, 20099th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Kroll

Feb 6, 2009D. Nev.Dismissed

Kupau

Feb 5, 2009D. Haw.Defendant Win

D. K. Ex Rel. Kumetz-Coleman v. Huntington Beach Union High School District

Jan 30, 20099th CircuitDismissed

Adachi

Jan 30, 2009S.D. Cal.Remanded

Estrada

Jan 28, 20099th CircuitDismissed

Estrada

Jan 28, 20099th CircuitDismissed

Bailey

Jan 23, 20099th CircuitDefendant Win

Bailey

Jan 23, 20099th CircuitDefendant Win

National Labor Relations Board v. ATC, LLC

Jan 16, 20099th CircuitPlaintiff Win

National Labor Relations Board v. ATC, LLC

Jan 16, 20099th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Adams

Jan 14, 20099th CircuitDefendant Win

Adams

Jan 14, 20099th CircuitDefendant Win

Adams

Jan 14, 20099th CircuitDefendant Win

Halloum

Jan 13, 20099th CircuitDefendant Win

Halloum

Jan 13, 20099th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Serrano's Mexican Restaurants, LLC

Jan 5, 20099th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Serrano's Mexican Restaurants, LLC

Jan 5, 20099th CircuitDefendant Win

Lapeter 1985 Living Trust v. Canada Life Insurance Co. of America

Jan 5, 20099th CircuitDefendant Win

Lapeter 1985 Living Trust v. Canada Life Insurance Co. of America

Jan 5, 20099th CircuitDefendant Win

Guadagno

Dec 29, 2008C.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Rivas

Dec 23, 2008E.D. Cal.Dismissed

Unionamerica Insurance v. Fort Miller Group, Inc.

Dec 22, 2008N.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Federal Insurance Co. v. Union Pacific Railroad

Dec 18, 2008C.D. Cal.Defendant Win

Keller

Dec 15, 2008C.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

United Steel, Paper & Forestry, Rubber Manufacturing Energy, Allied Industrial & Service Workers International Union v. Shell Oil Co.

Dec 9, 20089th CircuitDefendant Win

Walker

Dec 4, 20089th CircuitDefendant Win

Bouteiller

Dec 3, 20089th CircuitDefendant Win

Aftra, San Diego Local v. National Labor Relations Board

Nov 26, 20089th CircuitDefendant Win

Showing 4,5514,600 of 5,351 rulings · Page 92 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.