Skip to main content

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

Madrigal

Apr 1, 2020D. Kan.Mixed Result

Lasser

Mar 31, 2020D. Colo.Defendant Win

Santich

Mar 30, 2020D. Colo.Mixed Result

Smith v. Kansas Public Employees Retirement System

Mar 26, 2020D. Kan.Dismissed

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Plains Pipeline, L.P.

Mar 25, 2020D.N.M.Remanded

Estrada

Mar 19, 2020D. Colo.Defendant Win

Altschwager

Mar 19, 202010th CircuitDefendant Win

Evanston Insurance Company v. Aminokit Laboratories

Mar 18, 202010th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Roark-Whitten Hospitality 2, LP

Mar 17, 2020D.N.M.Defendant Win

Etna Properties v. Holladay City

Mar 13, 2020D. UtahDefendant Win

Mayhew

Mar 4, 2020D. Kan.Mixed Result

Rohr

Mar 4, 2020D. Kan.Defendant Win

Ortiz

Mar 3, 2020D.N.M.Mixed Result

Turner

Mar 2, 2020D. Kan.Defendant Win

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees v. Board of County Commissioners of Bernalillo County

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

Smallen Revocable Living Trust v. Western Union Company

Feb 25, 202010th CircuitDefendant Win

Sedillo

Feb 20, 2020D. Colo.Defendant Win

Adams

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

Golladay

Feb 14, 2020D.N.M.Dismissed

Ziankovich

Feb 13, 2020D. Colo.Dismissed

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

Feb 10, 2020D. Kan.Defendant Win

Smith v. Kansas Public Employees Retirement System

Feb 10, 2020D. Kan.Plaintiff Win

Corey

Feb 7, 2020D. Colo.Dismissed

Smith v. TFI Family Services, Inc.

Feb 5, 2020D. Kan.Plaintiff Win

Bernal

Feb 5, 2020D. Colo.Defendant Win

Faulkner

Feb 4, 2020D. Colo.Settlement

Buhrman

Feb 3, 2020D. Colo.Mixed Result

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

Jan 24, 2020D.N.M.Dismissed

Bachanov

Jan 24, 2020D. Colo.Dismissed

Laul

Jan 22, 2020D.N.M.Defendant Win

Harris-Mitchell

Jan 15, 2020D. Kan.Mixed Result

Kilman

Jan 15, 2020D. Colo.Defendant Win

Storlie

Jan 14, 2020D. Colo.Defendant Win

Smith v. Kansas Public Employees Retirement System

Jan 13, 2020D. Kan.Remanded

Pena-Flores

Jan 13, 2020D. Colo.Defendant Win

Bowles

Jan 7, 2020D. Colo.Defendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Roark-Whitten Hospitality 2, LP

Dec 30, 2019D.N.M.Plaintiff Win

Myers

Dec 30, 2019D. Kan.Defendant Win

Caballero

Dec 27, 201910th CircuitRemanded

United States v. Mendenhall

Dec 23, 201910th CircuitDefendant Win

Harte

Dec 23, 2019D. Kan.Defendant Win

Davis

Dec 23, 2019D. Colo.Mixed Result

Ruiz

Dec 18, 2019D. Colo.Defendant Win

Rattler

Dec 18, 2019D. Colo.Dismissed

Ostler

Dec 17, 2019D. UtahDefendant Win

Brayman

Dec 16, 2019D. Colo.Mixed Result

Foster

Dec 10, 2019D. Kan.Plaintiff Win

Frank

Dec 5, 2019D. Colo.Defendant Win

Craft

Dec 2, 2019D.N.M.Defendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Gollnick Construction, Inc.

Nov 26, 2019D. Colo.Settlement

Showing 801850 of 1,434 rulings · Page 17 of 29

Browse Other Circuits

Explore employment rulings from the other federal circuits.

Facing something similar at work?Check your rights — free, private, no sign-up

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.