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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 1,434 published rulings we track here (19722026), 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 1,434 published rulings we track in the Tenth Circuit.

Defendant Win
600 (42%)
Dismissed
258 (18%)
Mixed Result
227 (16%)
Plaintiff Win
223 (16%)
Remanded
95 (7%)
Settlement
31 (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 1,369 rulings we could classify by stage were decided.

Appeal
553 (40%)

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
242 (18%)

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 242 summary-judgment rulings here, 162 ended the case in the employer’s favor and 80 let the worker’s claims continue.

Motion to dismiss
485 (35%)

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

Trial verdict
34 (2%)

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

Settlement / consent decree
23 (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
14 (1%)

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

Other rulings
18 (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

Valencia

Aug 11, 2020D.N.M.Mixed Result

Raymond

Aug 11, 2020D. Kan.Mixed Result

Cano-Rodriguez

Aug 11, 2020D. Colo.Plaintiff Win

Jefferson

Aug 10, 2020D. Kan.Defendant Win

James

Aug 7, 2020D. Kan.Dismissed

Kennedy v. Mountainside Pizza, Inc.

Aug 3, 2020D. Colo.Defendant Win

Lundine

Jul 31, 2020D. Kan.Plaintiff Win

Dorris

Jul 29, 2020D. Kan.Defendant Win

Quinn

Jul 28, 2020D. Colo.Mixed Result

Jackson v. Fort Stanton Hosp

Jul 23, 2020D.N.M.Defendant Win

Boilermaker-Blacksmith National Pension Trust v. Becker Boiler Co., Inc.

Jul 22, 2020D. Kan.Plaintiff Win

Otte

Jul 21, 2020D. Kan.Defendant Win

Martin

Jul 21, 2020D. Colo.Defendant Win

Blanco

Jul 17, 2020D. Colo.Plaintiff Win

McMillian

Jul 16, 2020D. Kan.Settlement

Lincoln v. BNSF Railway Company

Jul 15, 2020D. Kan.Mixed Result

Shahlai

Jul 1, 2020D. Colo.Remanded

Charbonneau

Jun 30, 2020D. Kan.Mixed Result

Hankishiyev

Jun 26, 2020D. UtahDismissed

Matthews

Jun 26, 2020D. Colo.Defendant Win

Ochieno

Jun 24, 2020D.N.M.Dismissed

Sangha

Jun 16, 2020D. Kan.Remanded

Wisneski

Jun 15, 2020D. Kan.Dismissed

Prince

Jun 15, 2020D. Kan.Plaintiff Win

Colorado Springs Fellowship Church v. Williams

Jun 11, 2020D. Colo.Defendant Win

Winn

Jun 2, 2020D. Kan.Dismissed

Valencia

May 28, 2020D.N.M.Mixed Result

Ziankovich

May 27, 2020D. Colo.Defendant Win

Norwood

May 22, 2020D. Kan.Mixed Result

Felps

May 19, 2020D.N.M.Mixed Result

Frazier

May 18, 2020D. Kan.Mixed Result

Hundley

May 15, 2020D. Kan.Defendant Win

Elston

May 13, 2020D. Kan.Dismissed

Grant

May 8, 2020D. Kan.Defendant Win

Adams

Apr 30, 202010th CircuitDefendant Win

Rutten

Apr 29, 2020D. Kan.Defendant Win

Handy

Apr 28, 2020D. Colo.Mixed Result

Velasquez

Apr 27, 2020D. UtahMixed Result

Howard

Apr 23, 2020D. Kan.Defendant Win

Onyx Enterprises Int'l, Corp. v. Sloan International Holdings Corp

Apr 23, 2020D. Colo.Plaintiff Win

The Retired Public Employees of New Mexico, Inc. v. The Public Employees Retirement Association of New Mexico Board

Apr 17, 2020D.N.M.Dismissed

Fresquez

Apr 14, 2020D. Colo.Plaintiff Win

Fletcher

Apr 13, 2020D. Colo.Plaintiff Win

DeCoursey

Apr 9, 2020D. Kan.Dismissed

Oirya

Apr 7, 2020D. UtahDismissed

GCIU-Employer Retirement Fund v. Coleridge Fine Arts

Apr 6, 202010th CircuitDefendant Win

Anderson

Apr 3, 2020D. Kan.Plaintiff Win

United States Department of Labor v. Jani-King of Oklahoma Inc

Apr 2, 2020W.D. Okla.Defendant Win

Ghosn

Apr 2, 2020W.D. Okla.Plaintiff Win

Adams

Apr 1, 2020D.N.M.Plaintiff Win

Showing 751800 of 1,434 rulings · Page 16 of 29

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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.