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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

Monroe

Sep 10, 2024E.D. Mich.Defendant Win

Singer-Reed

Sep 6, 2024S.D. OhioMixed Result

Wade

Sep 6, 2024E.D. Mich.Mixed Result

Hill

Sep 4, 2024E.D. Tenn.Remanded

Schuler

Sep 4, 2024W.D. Mich.Remanded

Zizka

Aug 28, 2024N.D. OhioDefendant Win

Sherrod

Aug 27, 2024S.D. OhioMixed Result

Sherrod

Aug 27, 2024S.D. OhioDefendant Win

Smith v. STERIS Corporation

Aug 27, 2024N.D. OhioSettlement

Colbert

Aug 26, 2024N.D. OhioMixed Result

St. Vincent Catholic Charities v. Ingham County Board of Commissioners

Aug 26, 2024W.D. Mich.Defendant Win

LaShawn

Aug 23, 2024N.D. OhioDismissed

Datres

Aug 23, 2024W.D. Mich.Dismissed

Downing

Aug 22, 2024E.D. Tenn.Defendant Win

Wedlake

Aug 22, 2024S.D. OhioDismissed

Sturgill

Aug 22, 2024S.D. OhioDefendant Win

Gibson

Aug 20, 2024S.D. OhioMixed Result

Kaczanowski

Aug 20, 2024E.D. Mich.Dismissed

Hess

Aug 19, 2024N.D. OhioMixed Result

Ansari

Aug 19, 2024E.D. Mich.Mixed Result

MacMaster

Aug 19, 2024E.D. Mich.Plaintiff Win

Kaczanowski

Aug 16, 2024E.D. Mich.Mixed Result

Lewis

Aug 15, 2024S.D. OhioPlaintiff Win

Ramos

Aug 15, 2024N.D. OhioDismissed

Welch

Aug 13, 2024W.D. Ky.Defendant Win

Daisy Investment Corp. v. City of Seven Hills

Aug 12, 2024N.D. OhioDefendant Win

Weingrad

Aug 12, 2024E.D. Mich.Dismissed

Oswald

Aug 9, 2024S.D. OhioDefendant Win

Beard

Aug 9, 2024N.D. OhioDismissed

Rech

Aug 9, 2024E.D. Mich.Dismissed

Stanton v. Detroit, City of

Aug 8, 2024E.D. Mich.Dismissed

Schwarck

Aug 6, 2024S.D. OhioDefendant Win

Howard

Aug 6, 2024E.D. Mich.Mixed Result

PMP - Romulus, Inc. v. Valyrian Machine, LLC

Aug 2, 2024E.D. Mich.Defendant Win

Sherman

Aug 1, 2024S.D. OhioMixed Result

Ware

Jul 31, 2024N.D. OhioDefendant Win

Jones

Jul 31, 2024E.D. Mich.Dismissed

SJ

Jul 31, 2024E.D. Mich.Mixed Result

Rives

Jul 30, 2024E.D. Mich.Defendant Win

Waterman

Jul 30, 2024W.D. Ky.Defendant Win

Halleron

Jul 30, 2024W.D. Ky.Dismissed

Barnett-Morgan

Jul 30, 2024W.D. Ky.Defendant Win

Vinsant

Jul 29, 2024S.D. OhioDefendant Win

Savel

Jul 26, 2024N.D. OhioDismissed

Healey

Jul 26, 2024W.D. Ky.Dismissed

King

Jul 24, 2024S.D. OhioDismissed

Bradley

Jul 24, 2024E.D. Mich.Settlement

Coopwood

Jul 23, 2024E.D. Mich.Defendant Win

Jwad

Jul 22, 2024E.D. Mich.Mixed Result

Mackinac Center for Public Policy v. US Department Of Education

Jul 18, 2024E.D. Mich.Defendant Win

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.