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Employment Rulings in the Sixth Circuit

The Sixth Circuit covers the federal courts in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee. The rulings below come from the circuit's court of appeals and the federal trial courts within it.

Of the 2,531 published rulings we track here (19492026), 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 2,531 published rulings we track in the Sixth Circuit.

Defendant Win
1,124 (44%)
Plaintiff Win
460 (18%)
Mixed Result
385 (15%)
Dismissed
348 (14%)
Remanded
164 (6%)
Settlement
50 (2%)

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 2,489 rulings we could classify by stage were decided.

Appeal
1,205 (48%)

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
484 (19%)

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 484 summary-judgment rulings here, 285 ended the case in the employer’s favor and 199 let the worker’s claims continue.

Motion to dismiss
658 (26%)

An early request — usually by the employer — to throw the case out before any evidence is gathered.

Trial verdict
40 (2%)

A judge or jury heard the evidence and reached a decision. Relatively few disputes get this far.

Settlement / consent decree
46 (2%)

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
26 (1%)

A decision entered because one side did not respond to the case at all.

Other rulings
30 (1%)

Procedural decisions and orders that do not fit the main stages above.

States in This Circuit

Browse rulings from courts in each state the Sixth Circuit covers.

Recent Rulings in the Sixth Circuit

Tlapanco

Aug 2, 2021E.D. Mich.Defendant Win

Suvak

Jul 30, 2021M.D. Tenn.Defendant Win

Boards of Trustees of The Ohio Laborers' Fringe Benefit Programs v. S & D Traffic Control, LLC

Jul 28, 2021S.D. OhioPlaintiff Win

Fitzgerald

Jul 21, 2021E.D. Mich.Remanded

Render

Jul 20, 2021E.D. Mich.Dismissed

Walsh

Jul 20, 2021E.D. Mich.Mixed Result

Blankenship

Jul 19, 2021M.D. Tenn.Dismissed

Church

Jul 15, 2021S.D. OhioDefendant Win

Young

Jul 13, 2021S.D. OhioDefendant Win

Lawrence

Jul 9, 2021M.D. Tenn.Mixed Result

Gilinsky

Jul 9, 2021M.D. Tenn.Remanded

Carter

Jul 8, 2021W.D. Tenn.Dismissed

Holman

Jul 8, 2021W.D. Tenn.Defendant Win

Adamo Demolition Co. v. Int'l Union of Operating Eng'rs

Jul 2, 20216th CircuitDefendant Win

Peake

Jun 30, 2021E.D. Mich.Mixed Result

Oblisk

Jun 28, 2021W.D. Ky.Defendant Win

Parker

Jun 23, 2021S.D. OhioDefendant Win

Cephas-Hill

Jun 23, 2021S.D. OhioDefendant Win

Reulbach

Jun 23, 2021N.D. OhioDefendant Win

Vest

Jun 18, 2021M.D. Tenn.Defendant Win

Neff

Jun 17, 2021N.D. OhioDefendant Win

Benoist

Jun 15, 2021W.D. Tenn.Dismissed

Holmes

Jun 9, 2021S.D. OhioDismissed

Holmes

Jun 7, 2021S.D. OhioDefendant Win

Milman

Jun 4, 2021E.D. Mich.Dismissed

Fitzgerald

Jun 3, 2021E.D. Mich.Plaintiff Win

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA v. Board of Governors of Wayne State University

Jun 1, 2021E.D. Mich.Defendant Win

Best Value Auto Parts Distributors, Inc. v. Quality Collision Parts, Inc.

May 31, 2021E.D. Mich.Mixed Result

Jones

May 25, 2021E.D. Mich.Plaintiff Win

Vitolo

May 19, 2021E.D. Tenn.Defendant Win

Graham

May 18, 2021E.D. Mich.Plaintiff Win

Bonds

May 17, 2021S.D. OhioDismissed

Fijalkowski

May 17, 2021S.D. OhioDefendant Win

Verso Corporation v. United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, AFL-CIO/CLC

May 4, 2021S.D. OhioMixed Result

Nagarajan

Apr 30, 2021M.D. Tenn.Defendant Win

Cromer

Apr 23, 2021N.D. OhioDefendant Win

Madany

Apr 23, 2021E.D. Mich.Mixed Result

Walker

Apr 22, 2021E.D. Mich.Remanded

Ledford

Apr 19, 2021S.D. OhioDismissed

Russell

Apr 13, 2021E.D. Mich.Defendant Win

Southall

Apr 9, 2021M.D. Tenn.Defendant Win

Hawley

Apr 6, 2021S.D. OhioDismissed

Hutt

Apr 5, 2021S.D. OhioDismissed

Fulkerson

Mar 31, 2021N.D. OhioDefendant Win

Quillen Smith v. U.S. Bank National Association

Mar 30, 2021S.D. OhioDismissed

Davis

Mar 30, 2021E.D. Ky.Defendant Win

Slight

Mar 29, 2021N.D. OhioDefendant Win

Pack

Mar 26, 2021E.D. Mich.Defendant Win

Martinez

Mar 25, 2021M.D. Tenn.Defendant Win

Wilson

Mar 25, 2021M.D. Tenn.Remanded

Browse Other Circuits

Explore employment rulings from the other federal circuits.

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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.