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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

Morris

May 24, 201710th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Firebird Structures, LCC v. United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners, Local Union No. 1505

May 5, 2017D.N.M.Defendant Win

Jackson v. Education & Employment Ministry

Apr 24, 201710th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. BNSF Railway Co.

Apr 11, 201710th CircuitDefendant Win

Clincy

Apr 4, 201710th CircuitDefendant Win

Benavidez

Mar 30, 2017D.N.M.Mixed Result

Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, Local 2001 v. Spirit Aerosystems, Inc.

Mar 15, 201710th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Peavy

Mar 8, 201710th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Tricore Reference Laboratories

Feb 27, 201710th CircuitDefendant Win

Pueblo of Pojoaque v. New Mexico

Feb 9, 2017D.N.M.Defendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Western Distributing Co.

Nov 21, 2016D. Colo.Defendant Win

United Steel, Paper & Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial & Service Workers International Union & Its Local 13-857 v. Phillips 66 Co.

Oct 17, 201610th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center v. District 1199NM, National Union of Hospital & Healthcare Employees

Sep 21, 2016D.N.M.Defendant Win

Collins

Aug 22, 201610th CircuitDefendant Win

Perez

Jul 21, 2016D. Colo.Defendant Win

Lebahn

Jul 11, 201610th CircuitDefendant Win

Benavidez

Jun 27, 2016D.N.M.Dismissed

United Steel Workers Local Union No. 348 v. Magellan Midstream Holdings GP, LLC

Jun 16, 201610th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Resource Associates Grant Writing & Evaluation Services, Inc. v. Southampton Union Free School District

Jun 15, 2016D.N.M.Dismissed

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. PJ Utah, LLC

May 18, 201610th CircuitMixed Result

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

Apr 20, 2016D. Colo.Plaintiff Win

Salemi

Mar 31, 2016D. Colo.Defendant Win

Chavez

Mar 31, 2016D. Colo.Defendant Win

Sweesy

Mar 30, 201610th CircuitDefendant Win

Kunze

Mar 14, 2016D. Colo.Mixed Result

Robinson

Mar 10, 201610th CircuitDefendant Win

BNSF Railway Co. v. United States Department of Labor

Mar 7, 201610th CircuitMixed Result

Adair

Feb 22, 201610th CircuitDefendant Win

National Labor Relations Board v. Community Health Services, Inc.

Jan 20, 201610th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Fourth Corner Credit Union v. Federal Reserve Bank

Jan 5, 2016D. Colo.Mixed Result

Anderson Living Trust v. WPX Energy Production, LLC

Dec 31, 2015D.N.M.Plaintiff Win

Lounds v. Lincare, Inc.

Dec 22, 201510th CircuitMixed Result

Medina v. Catholic Health Initiatives

Dec 8, 2015D. Colo.Defendant Win

International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 627 v. National Labor Relations Board

Dec 3, 201510th CircuitDefendant Win

Shahmaleki v. Kansas State University

Nov 23, 2015D. Kan.Defendant Win

Blue Mountain Energy v. Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, United States Department of Labor

Nov 13, 201510th CircuitRemanded

United Steel, Paper & Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial & Service Workers International Union v. Phillips 66 Co.

Oct 29, 2015N.D. Okla.Remanded

Peavy

Oct 27, 201510th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. JetStream Ground Services, Inc.

Sep 29, 2015D. Colo.Mixed Result

Kennett

Sep 24, 2015D. Colo.Plaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. BNSF Railway Co.

Aug 21, 2015D. Kan.Defendant Win

Didier

Jul 31, 201510th CircuitDefendant Win

Sanders

Jul 24, 201510th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. JBS USA, LLC

Jul 17, 2015D. Colo.Settlement

Adam

May 4, 201510th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Beverage Distributors Co.

Mar 16, 201510th CircuitRemanded

Ellis

Mar 9, 201510th CircuitDefendant Win

Muragara

Mar 3, 201510th CircuitDefendant Win

Tennille

Dec 22, 201410th CircuitDefendant Win

Reiling ex rel. B.J.W.R. v. Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada

Dec 5, 2014D. Kan.Plaintiff Win

Showing 9511,000 of 1,434 rulings · Page 20 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.