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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

Prickett

Jun 27, 2001D. UtahDefendant Win

Robinson

Apr 13, 200110th CircuitDefendant Win

Smith v. Union Pacific Railroad

Dec 7, 200010th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Swift Transportation Co.

Nov 9, 2000D. Kan.Mixed Result

NLRB v. Pueblo of San Juan

Sep 26, 200010th CircuitDefendant Win

National Labor Relations Board v. Pueblo of San Juan

Sep 26, 200010th CircuitDefendant Win

National Labor Relations Board v. Pueblo Of San Juan

Sep 26, 200010th CircuitDefendant Win

Kozeny

Sep 25, 2000D. Colo.Mixed Result

Local No. 7 United Food & Commercial Workers International Union v. King Soopers, Inc.

Aug 2, 200010th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Horizon/CMS

Jul 31, 200010th CircuitRemanded

Sharp

Jul 11, 200010th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Webco Industries, Inc. v. Natioanal Labor Relations Board

Jul 11, 200010th CircuitDefendant Win

Robinson

May 31, 2000D. Colo.Defendant Win

Paddock

Apr 26, 200010th CircuitDefendant Win

Powell

Mar 2, 200010th CircuitMixed Result

Johnson v. Kimberly Clark Worldwide, Inc.

Feb 16, 2000D. UtahRemanded

Brown

Jan 20, 2000D. Wyo.Defendant Win

Otero

Dec 21, 199910th CircuitPlaintiff Win

EEOC v. United Airlines

Jun 17, 199910th CircuitDefendant Win

Ackerman

Jun 10, 199910th CircuitDefendant Win

Garcia

Mar 30, 1999D. Colo.Defendant Win

Foote

Feb 23, 1999D. UtahDefendant Win

Teresita Pack v. Kmart Corporation, a Michigan Corporation Steve Nicholas, an Individual, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Amicus Curiae

Feb 4, 199910th CircuitDefendant Win

Fitzgerald

Jan 20, 1999N.D. Okla.Defendant Win

Weaver

Nov 25, 1998D. UtahPlaintiff Win

Worman

May 11, 1998D. Wyo.Defendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Apr 27, 1998D.N.M.Plaintiff Win

Carr

Apr 17, 1998D. Colo.Plaintiff Win

Lundahl

Mar 24, 1998D. UtahDismissed

Blue Circle Cement v. NLRB

Jan 24, 199710th CircuitMixed Result

Smith v. Norwest Financial Wyoming, Inc.

Oct 15, 1996D. Wyo.Plaintiff Win

Stephen H. Bohn v. Park City Group, Inc. And Randy Fields

Sep 26, 199610th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Ready Mixed Concrete v. NLRB

Apr 26, 199610th CircuitDefendant Win

Intermountain Rural v. NLRB

Apr 22, 199610th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Wiltel, Inc.

Apr 18, 199610th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Wiltel, Inc.

Apr 18, 199610th CircuitDefendant Win

Roe

Jan 11, 1996D. Colo.Mixed Result

Clarence J. Anderson v. Mile High Child Care, Civil Rights Commission of Colorado, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

May 11, 199510th CircuitDefendant Win

Besso

Apr 26, 1995D. Wyo.Defendant Win

Kimberly Manard v. Fort Howard Corporation and David Sexton, Equal Employment Advisory Council, Amicus Curiae

Feb 14, 199510th CircuitRemanded

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Foothills Title Guaranty Company

Mar 2, 199210th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Grinnell Fire Protection Systems Co.

May 21, 1991D. Kan.Plaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Ackerman, Hood & McQueen, Inc.

Feb 20, 1991W.D. Okla.Plaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Wendy's of Colorado Springs, Inc.

Dec 27, 1989D. Colo.Defendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. General Motors Corp.

May 16, 1989D. Kan.Defendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Sperry Corp.

Jul 18, 198810th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Commercial Office Products Company

Dec 23, 198610th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company

Jul 13, 198410th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. C. A. Norgren Co.

Mar 10, 1982D. Colo.Defendant Win

Image (Inc. Mex.-Am. Gov't Emp.) v. Eeoc

May 3, 1979D. Colo.Defendant Win

Showing 501–550 of 552 rulings · Page 11 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.