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Employment Rulings in the Tenth Circuit

The Tenth Circuit covers the federal courts in Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming. The rulings below come from the circuit's court of appeals and the federal trial courts within it.

Of the 552 published rulings we track here (1972–2026), 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 552 published rulings we track in the Tenth Circuit.

Defendant Win
271 (49%)
Plaintiff Win
84 (15%)
Dismissed
82 (15%)
Mixed Result
64 (12%)
Settlement
26 (5%)
Remanded
25 (5%)

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 537 rulings we could classify by stage were decided.

Appeal
162 (30%)

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
131 (24%)

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 131 summary-judgment rulings here, 99 ended the case in the employer’s favor and 32 let the worker’s claims continue.

Motion to dismiss
186 (35%)

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

Trial verdict
19 (4%)

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

Settlement / consent decree
25 (5%)

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
8 (1%)

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

Other rulings
6 (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 Tenth Circuit covers.

Recent Rulings in the Tenth Circuit

Sandoval

Nov 2, 2005D.N.M.Plaintiff Win

Anderson

Sep 2, 200510th CircuitDefendant Win

Phillips

Sep 2, 200510th CircuitDefendant Win

Thierry

Aug 18, 200510th CircuitDefendant Win

Croy

Jun 1, 200510th CircuitDefendant Win

Board of County Commissioners v. United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Apr 15, 200510th CircuitDefendant Win

Bailey

Apr 6, 2005D. Colo.Remanded

Valdez

Feb 16, 200510th CircuitDefendant Win

Lackey Electric, Inc. v. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local Union No. 226

Jan 12, 2005D. Kan.Defendant Win

Daily

Dec 6, 200410th CircuitDismissed

Cytrynbaum

Sep 28, 2004D. Colo.Defendant Win

Benson

Sep 27, 2004D. UtahDefendant Win

National Labor Relations Board v. CHS Community Health Systems, Inc.

Aug 23, 200410th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Murphy v. Facet 58, Inc.

Aug 9, 2004D. UtahDefendant Win

Skier's Edge Co. v. Ladapa Die & Tool, Inc.

May 21, 200410th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Amadasu

Mar 25, 200410th CircuitDefendant Win

Horn

Jan 28, 200410th CircuitDefendant Win

Blagg

Jan 21, 2004D. Colo.Dismissed

NewCap Insurance v. Employers Reinsurance Corp.

Dec 12, 2003D. Kan.Defendant Win

National Labor Relations Board v. Pueblo of San Juan

Dec 4, 2003D.N.M.Defendant Win

National Labor Relations Board v. Interstate Builders, Inc.

Nov 26, 200310th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Brickey

Nov 24, 2003D. Kan.Mixed Result

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. W.H. Braum, Inc.

Oct 28, 200310th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Curry

Oct 27, 200310th CircuitDefendant Win

Croy

Oct 3, 200310th CircuitDefendant Win

National Labor Relations Board v. Oklahoma Fixture Co.

Sep 10, 200310th CircuitDefendant Win

Ware

Aug 21, 2003D. Kan.Dismissed

Buck

Aug 12, 200310th CircuitDefendant Win

Campbell

Jul 21, 2003N.D. Okla.Mixed Result

Adams

Jun 5, 200310th CircuitDefendant Win

Parker

May 29, 2003D. UtahPlaintiff Win

Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers International Union Local 5-391 v. Conoco, Inc.

May 7, 200310th CircuitMixed Result

Conatzer

Mar 21, 2003N.D. Okla.Defendant Win

Local 5-857 Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical & Energy Workers International Union v. Conoco Inc.

Mar 4, 200310th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Ellison

Mar 3, 200310th CircuitDefendant Win

Dalton

Feb 19, 200310th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Dillon Companies

Nov 13, 200210th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Tinker Air Force Base v. Federal Labor Relations Authority

Nov 4, 200210th CircuitDefendant Win

Carlton

Jul 26, 200210th CircuitDefendant Win

National Labor Relations Board v. Oklahoma Fixture Co.

Jul 9, 200210th CircuitDefendant Win

Nance

Jul 2, 200210th CircuitDefendant Win

Inga F. Danville v. Regional Lab Corporation, a New Mexico Corporation Doing Business as Tricore Reference Laboratories

Jun 12, 200210th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Spaulding v. United Transportation Union

Feb 5, 200210th CircuitDefendant Win

Ellison

Jan 28, 2002D.N.M.Defendant Win

Powell

Jan 22, 200210th CircuitDefendant Win

National Labor Relations Board v. King Soopers, Inc.

Dec 27, 200110th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Silva

Dec 20, 200110th CircuitDefendant Win

Employers Reinsurance Corp. v. Jefferson Pilot Financial Insurance

Nov 20, 2001D. Kan.Plaintiff Win

Mj Metal Products, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board, National Labor Relations Board v. Mj Metal Products, Inc.

Oct 10, 200110th CircuitDefendant Win

Adkins

Jul 25, 200110th CircuitDefendant Win

Showing 451–500 of 552 rulings · Page 10 of 12

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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.