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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

Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics v. United States Forest Service

May 5, 20089th CircuitDismissed

Murdock

May 2, 20089th CircuitDefendant Win

Estrada

May 2, 20089th CircuitDefendant Win

Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics v. United States Forest Service

May 1, 20089th CircuitDefendant Win

Cornelio

May 1, 20089th CircuitDefendant Win

Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics v. United States Forest Service

Apr 30, 20089th CircuitDefendant Win

Krahn

Apr 28, 20089th CircuitDefendant Win

SFPP, L.P. v. Union Pacific Railroad

Apr 18, 20089th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Harris Farms Inc.

Apr 17, 20089th CircuitPlaintiff Win

River Oak Center for Children, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Apr 16, 20089th CircuitDefendant Win

Platt Electrical Supply, Inc. v. Underwriters Laboratories, Inc.

Apr 15, 20089th CircuitDefendant Win

Murrell

Apr 7, 2008D. Or.Mixed Result

Au-Tomotive Gold, Inc. v. Volkswagen of America, Inc.

Apr 1, 2008D. Ariz.Defendant Win

McCabe Hamilton & Renny Co. v. International Longshore & Warehouse Union, Local 142

Apr 1, 2008D. Haw.Mixed Result

Cranney

Mar 20, 2008D. Nev.Defendant Win

James

Mar 17, 20089th CircuitDefendant Win

Hylinger

Mar 7, 2008W.D. Wash.Defendant Win

Adams

Mar 6, 2008C.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. ABM Industries Inc.

Mar 5, 2008E.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Jackson v. Attorney General of Nevada

Mar 4, 20089th CircuitPlaintiff Win

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. NCL America, Inc.

Feb 26, 2008D. Haw.Mixed Result

Jada Toys, Inc. v. Mattel, Inc.

Feb 21, 20089th CircuitMixed Result

National Labor Relations Board v. United Food & Commercial Workers Union, Local 1036

Feb 21, 20089th CircuitDefendant Win

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. NCL America, Inc.

Feb 20, 2008D. Haw.Mixed Result

In Re Syncor ERISA Litigation

Feb 19, 20089th CircuitRemanded

Gibson

Feb 14, 20089th CircuitDefendant Win

Thorpe

Feb 12, 2008N.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

Walters Wholesale Electric Co. v. National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh

Jan 31, 2008C.D. Cal.Mixed Result

Houston v. Encinitas Union School District

Jan 29, 20089th CircuitRemanded

Grabinski

Jan 29, 20089th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Local Joint Executive Board v. National Labor Relations Board

Jan 28, 20089th CircuitDefendant Win

Local Joint Executive Board of Las Vegas v. NLRB

Jan 28, 20089th CircuitDefendant Win

International Ass'n of Machinists & Aerospace Workers, Local Lodge 845 v. National Labor Relations Board

Jan 24, 20089th CircuitDefendant Win

Estrada

Jan 23, 20089th CircuitDefendant Win

Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics v. United States Forest Service

Jan 11, 2008D. Mont.Mixed Result

Golden Gate Restaurant Association v. San Francisco Central Labor Council

Jan 9, 20089th CircuitMixed Result

National Labor Relations Board v. Friendly Cab Co.

Jan 8, 20089th CircuitPlaintiff Win

NLRB v. Friendly Cab Co.

Jan 8, 20089th CircuitPlaintiff Win

United Steelworkers of America v. Retirement Income Plan for Hourly-Rated Employees of ASARCO, Inc.

Jan 7, 20089th CircuitPlaintiff Win

United Steelworkers v. Retirement Income Plan for Hourly-Rated Employees of Asarco, Inc.

Jan 7, 20089th CircuitPlaintiff Win

In re M.L. Stern Overtime Litigation

Jan 4, 2008S.D. Cal.Mixed Result

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Catholic Healthcare West

Jan 3, 2008C.D. Cal.Plaintiff Win

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Robert L. Reeves & Associates

Dec 27, 20079th CircuitDefendant Win

Neerdaels

Dec 19, 20079th CircuitDefendant Win

National Treasury Employees Union v. Federal Labor Relations Authority

Dec 19, 20079th CircuitDefendant Win

Global Horizons, Inc. v. U.S. Department of Labor

Dec 13, 20079th CircuitDefendant Win

Global Horizons, Inc. v. U.S. Department of Labor

Dec 12, 20079th CircuitDefendant Win

Roe

Dec 10, 2007D. Nev.Mixed Result

Young

Dec 10, 20079th CircuitRemanded

District Council No. 16 of the International Union of Painters & Allied Trades, Glaziers, Architectural Metal & Glass Workers, L

Dec 10, 20079th CircuitDefendant Win

Showing 4,6514,700 of 5,351 rulings · Page 94 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.