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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

Volk

Nov 14, 2024D. Kan.Mixed Result

Brock

Nov 12, 202410th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Duncan

Nov 5, 2024D. UtahDismissed

Burgess

Oct 9, 2024D. Kan.Dismissed

Berberich

Oct 3, 2024D. Kan.Defendant Win

Benbrook

Sep 25, 2024D. Kan.Mixed Result

Romero-Valdez

Sep 23, 2024D.N.M.Dismissed

Bereznak

Sep 20, 2024D. Colo.Defendant Win

Graesser

Sep 18, 2024D. Colo.Defendant Win

Mitchell v. Ascension Via Christi Hospital St Teresa, Inc.

Aug 30, 2024D. Kan.Defendant Win

Woods

Aug 26, 2024D. Kan.Defendant Win

McFadden

Aug 21, 2024D. Kan.Settlement

Rodriguez-Ortega

Aug 20, 2024D.N.M.Defendant Win

Palczynsky

Aug 19, 2024D.N.M.Defendant Win

Alexander

Aug 9, 2024N.D. Okla.Dismissed

Arredondo

Aug 4, 2024D. Colo.Dismissed

Romero

Jul 31, 2024D.N.M.Dismissed

Shortey

Jul 25, 2024D. Kan.Dismissed

Eguakun

Jul 15, 2024D. Colo.Dismissed

Lovato

Jul 2, 2024D.N.M.Dismissed

Mills

Jun 27, 2024N.D. Okla.Mixed Result

Flores Rosales v. Prestige Maintenance USA, Ltd.

Jun 27, 2024D. Colo.Defendant Win

Crawford

May 24, 2024D. Kan.Plaintiff Win

Stout

May 22, 2024D. Kan.Settlement

Miser

May 17, 2024D. Kan.Plaintiff Win

F.

May 1, 2024D. UtahDefendant Win

Stanley

Apr 23, 2024D. Colo.Settlement

Rand

Apr 12, 2024D. Kan.Dismissed

Brayman

Apr 12, 2024D. Colo.Defendant Win

Peterson

Feb 27, 2024D. Kan.Defendant Win

Peck

Feb 26, 2024D. Kan.Dismissed

Jenny

Feb 23, 2024D. UtahDefendant Win

Vassel

Feb 21, 2024D. Colo.Plaintiff Win

Kolbe

Feb 15, 2024D. Colo.Plaintiff Win

United States Department of Labor v. El Toro Loco Legends, LLC

Feb 1, 2024D. Kan.Mixed Result

Olson

Jan 16, 2024D. Kan.Mixed Result

Johnson v. Molina Healthcare, Inc.

Nov 16, 2023D.N.M.Settlement

Washington v. Douglas County, Kansas

Oct 6, 2023D. Kan.Plaintiff Win

Paul

Sep 14, 2023D. Colo.Remanded

Roberts

Sep 13, 2023D. Colo.Defendant Win

Dennis

Sep 12, 2023D. Colo.Defendant Win

Rra-Shada

Sep 2, 2023D. Colo.Dismissed

Justman

Aug 30, 2023D. Kan.Defendant Win

Lask

Aug 8, 2023D. Kan.Mixed Result

True

Jun 28, 2023D. UtahDismissed

Busby

Jun 2, 2023D. Kan.Dismissed

True

May 26, 2023D. UtahDismissed

Jones

May 25, 2023N.D. Okla.Defendant Win

Jackson v. Wyandotte County, Kansas, Unified Government of

May 25, 2023D. Kan.Defendant Win

Christians in the Workplace Networking Group v. National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC

May 18, 2023D.N.M.Defendant Win

Showing 51–100 of 552 rulings · Page 2 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.