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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

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. CollegeAmerica Denver, Inc.

Dec 2, 2014D. Colo.Mixed Result

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. JBS USA, LLC

Sep 9, 2014D. Colo.Mixed Result

Teamsters Local Union No. 455 v. National Labor Relations Board

Aug 27, 201410th CircuitDefendant Win

United Food & Commercial Workers Union Local 880 Pension Fund v. Chesapeake Energy Corp.

Aug 8, 201410th CircuitDefendant Win

Adams

Jun 5, 201410th CircuitDefendant Win

Didier

May 13, 2014D. Kan.Defendant Win

Simms

Mar 4, 201410th CircuitDismissed

United Food & Commercial Workers International Union v. King Soopers, Inc.

Feb 28, 201410th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Smith v. Adams County Combined Court, Co.

Jan 22, 201410th CircuitDefendant Win

Padilla

Jan 3, 201410th CircuitDefendant Win

Eller

Dec 31, 201310th CircuitDefendant Win

Eisenhour v. Weber County

Dec 31, 201310th CircuitMixed Result

Eisenhour v. Weber County

Dec 31, 201310th CircuitMixed Result

Anil Vazirani v. Mark Heitz

Dec 20, 201310th CircuitDefendant Win

Angell v. Fairmount Fire Protection District

Dec 18, 201310th CircuitDefendant Win

Avants v. Prospect Mortgage, LLC

Dec 17, 2013D.N.M.Mixed Result

Adams

Nov 26, 201310th CircuitDefendant Win

Lobato v. New Mexico Environment Department

Nov 5, 201310th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Unit Drilling Co.

Nov 1, 2013N.D. Okla.Defendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc.

Oct 1, 201310th CircuitDefendant Win

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

Sep 17, 201310th CircuitDefendant Win

Tenille

Sep 10, 2013D. Colo.Plaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. 704 HTL Operating, LLC

Sep 6, 2013D.N.M.Defendant Win

Adams

Aug 20, 201310th CircuitDefendant Win

James

Jul 31, 201310th CircuitDefendant Win

Cruces

Jul 8, 2013D. UtahDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Western Trading Co.

Jun 20, 2013D. Colo.Mixed Result

Lockheed Martin Corp. v. Administrative Review Board

Jun 4, 201310th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Overstreet ex rel. National Labor Relations Board v. SFTC, LLC

May 9, 2013D.N.M.Defendant Win

Jaremko

May 8, 201310th CircuitDefendant Win

Mizusawa

Apr 26, 201310th CircuitDefendant Win

Volner

Jan 31, 201310th CircuitDefendant Win

Society of Professional Engineering Employees v. Boeing Co.

Jan 31, 2013D. Kan.Mixed Result

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Original Honeybaked Ham Co. of Georgia, Inc.

Jan 15, 2013D. Colo.Mixed Result

FMSHR

Nov 15, 201210th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Spud Seller, Inc.

Sep 30, 2012D. Colo.Mixed Result

In re Bank of America Wage & Hour Employment Litigation

Sep 27, 2012D. Kan.Mixed Result

Pinkey

Sep 19, 201210th CircuitDismissed

Public Service Co. v. National Labor Relations Board

Aug 28, 201210th CircuitMixed Result

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. TriCore Reference Laboratories

Aug 16, 201210th CircuitDefendant Win

Lederman

Jul 11, 201210th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Picture People, Inc.

Jul 10, 201210th CircuitDefendant Win

National Labor Relations Board v. Teamsters Local Union No. 523

Jul 5, 201210th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Moreland Auto Group, LLLP

Jun 18, 2012D. Colo.Remanded

Jaramillo

Jun 12, 201210th CircuitDefendant Win

Jaramillo

Jun 12, 201210th CircuitDefendant Win

Spradley

Jun 1, 201210th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Wesson

Apr 30, 2012N.D. Okla.Defendant Win

MSHA

Apr 4, 201210th CircuitMixed Result

Morrison

Mar 8, 2012W.D. Okla.Dismissed

Showing 1,0011,050 of 1,434 rulings · Page 21 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.