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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

Casias

Feb 11, 2011W.D. Mich.Defendant Win

Moore

Feb 7, 2011S.D. OhioMixed Result

Ada Freese v. Continental Airlines, Inc.

Feb 3, 20116th CircuitRemanded

DeWeese

Feb 2, 20116th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Southeast Telecom, Inc.

Jan 31, 2011M.D. Tenn.Defendant Win

Lindberg

Jan 21, 2011W.D. Tenn.Mixed Result

Sandra Quezada-Andino v. Eric Holder, Jr.

Jan 18, 20116th CircuitDismissed

James Price v. Bd of Trustees of the Ind. Laborer's Pension Fund

Jan 12, 20116th CircuitRemanded

James Price v. Bd of Trustees of the Ind. Laborer's Pension Fund

Jan 12, 20116th CircuitRemanded

DiPONIO

Dec 23, 2010E.D. Mich.Defendant Win

Green

Dec 15, 2010E.D. Ky.Dismissed

Anheuser-Busch

Nov 1, 20106th CircuitDefendant Win

Suzann Barlow v. Edward Adams

Oct 7, 20106th CircuitRemanded

Pearson

Oct 5, 2010S.D. OhioMixed Result

Miller v. Countrywide Home Loans

Sep 30, 2010S.D. OhioDismissed

Boaz

Sep 24, 2010W.D. Tenn.Mixed Result

Auto-Owners Insurance v. Edward D. Jones & Co. Employee Health & Welfare Program

Sep 23, 2010W.D. Mich.Defendant Win

Louisiana School Employees' Retirement System v. Ernst & Young, LLP

Sep 22, 20106th CircuitDefendant Win

Little River Band v. National Labor Relations Board

Sep 20, 2010W.D. Mich.Defendant Win

Equitable Resources, Inc. v. United Steel, Paper & Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial & Service Workers International Union

Sep 16, 20106th CircuitDefendant Win

Laborers Pension Trust Fund-Detroit & Vicinity v. Interior Exterior Specialists Construction Group, Inc.

Sep 8, 20106th CircuitMixed Result

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Cintas Corp.

Sep 3, 2010E.D. Mich.Defendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Cintas Corp.

Sep 3, 2010E.D. Mich.Defendant Win

Local Union 369, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers v. ADT Security Services, Inc.

Aug 27, 20106th CircuitDefendant Win

Pace Industry Union-Management Pension Fund v. Dannex Manufacturing Co.

Aug 26, 20106th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Teamsters Local Union No. 89 v. Kroger Co.

Aug 25, 20106th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Perfetti Van Melle USA v. CADBURY ADAMS USA LLC

Aug 18, 2010E.D. Ky.Defendant Win

Wagner

Aug 10, 2010S.D. OhioDismissed

Local 295/Local 851 IBT Employer Group Pension Trust & Welfare Fund v. Fifth Third Bancorp.

Aug 10, 2010S.D. OhioDismissed

Phillip Badalament v. United of Omaha Life Insurance

Jul 27, 20106th CircuitDefendant Win

Trustees of the Sheet Metal Workers' Local Union No. 80 Pension Trust Fund v. Winchester Land, L.L.C.

Jul 7, 2010E.D. Mich.Defendant Win

Payne

Jul 6, 2010E.D. Tenn.Mixed Result

In Re Regions Morgan Keegan ERISA Litigation

Jun 30, 2010W.D. Tenn.Defendant Win

Galicks, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Jun 24, 20106th CircuitRemanded

Galicks, Inc. v. NLRB

Jun 24, 20106th CircuitRemanded

American Civil Liberties Union v. McCreary County

Jun 9, 20106th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Swanigan

Jun 9, 2010W.D. Tenn.Defendant Win

Treadwell

Jun 9, 2010W.D. Tenn.Defendant Win

National Union Fire Insurance v. VP Buildings, Inc.

Jun 4, 20106th CircuitDefendant Win

Bloemker

May 19, 20106th CircuitMixed Result

Melton v. United States Department of Labor

Apr 20, 20106th CircuitDefendant Win

Trustees of the Painters Union Deposit Fund v. Interior/Exterior Specialist Co.

Apr 7, 20106th CircuitDefendant Win

Hooper

Mar 22, 2010M.D. Tenn.Defendant Win

Burkholder

Mar 19, 2010N.D. OhioDefendant Win

Burkholder

Mar 19, 2010N.D. OhioDefendant Win

Schott

Mar 16, 2010S.D. OhioMixed Result

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. 786 South LLC

Mar 11, 2010W.D. Tenn.Mixed Result

Foster

Mar 10, 2010S.D. OhioMixed Result

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & School

Mar 9, 20106th CircuitRemanded

In Re Regions Morgan Keegan Erisa Litigation

Mar 9, 2010W.D. Tenn.Mixed Result

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.