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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. W.H. Braum, Inc.

Oct 28, 200310th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Curry

Oct 27, 200310th CircuitDefendant Win

Croy

Oct 3, 200310th CircuitDefendant Win

National Labor Relations Board v. Oklahoma Fixture Co.

Sep 10, 200310th CircuitDefendant Win

Adams v. Kinder-Morgan, Inc.

Aug 29, 200310th CircuitMixed Result

Ware

Aug 21, 2003D. Kan.Dismissed

Buck

Aug 12, 200310th CircuitDefendant Win

Adams

Aug 11, 200310th CircuitMixed Result

Campbell

Jul 21, 2003N.D. Okla.Mixed Result

National Labor Relations Board v. Oklahoma Fixture Company

Jun 18, 200310th CircuitPlaintiff Win

McDermott

Jun 16, 2003D. Colo.Defendant Win

Henderson v. International Union

Jun 6, 2003D. Kan.Defendant Win

Adams

Jun 5, 200310th CircuitDefendant Win

Parker

May 29, 2003D. UtahPlaintiff Win

Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers International Union Local 5-391 v. Conoco, Inc.

May 7, 200310th CircuitMixed Result

Swenson

May 3, 2003D. Wyo.Mixed Result

Keating

Apr 24, 200310th CircuitRemanded

Adam

Apr 24, 200310th CircuitDismissed

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Voss Electric Co.

Apr 7, 2003W.D. Okla.Defendant Win

Conatzer

Mar 21, 2003N.D. Okla.Defendant Win

Employer's Reinsurance Corp. v. Clarendon National Insurance

Mar 4, 2003D. Kan.Defendant Win

Local 5-857 Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical & Energy Workers International Union v. Conoco Inc.

Mar 4, 200310th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Ellison

Mar 3, 200310th CircuitDefendant Win

Dalton

Feb 19, 200310th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Nicodemus

Feb 13, 200310th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Public Service Co. of Oklahoma v. National Labor Relations Board

Feb 5, 200310th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Dillon Companies

Nov 13, 200210th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Tinker Air Force Base v. Federal Labor Relations Authority

Nov 4, 200210th CircuitDefendant Win

Tinker Air Force Base v. Federal Labor Relations Authority

Nov 4, 200210th CircuitDefendant Win

Herrera

Oct 15, 2002D. Colo.Mixed Result

Carlton

Jul 26, 200210th CircuitDefendant Win

Kittel

Jul 19, 200210th CircuitRemanded

National Union Fire Insurance v. LSB Industries, Inc.

Jul 10, 200210th CircuitDefendant Win

Ayala

Jul 10, 200210th CircuitDefendant Win

National Labor Relations Board v. Oklahoma Fixture Co.

Jul 9, 200210th CircuitDefendant Win

Nance

Jul 2, 200210th CircuitDefendant Win

Utah Alcoholism Foundation v. Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories-Non-Bargaining Unit Employees' Comprehensive Medical Benefits Plan

Jun 17, 2002D. UtahDefendant Win

Inga F. Danville v. Regional Lab Corporation, a New Mexico Corporation Doing Business as Tricore Reference Laboratories

Jun 12, 200210th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Dave Chandler Daniel Hayes Cheryl St. John Robert G. Prokop v. The City of Arvada, Colorado

Jun 11, 200210th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Lejeune

May 17, 2002D. Wyo.Defendant Win

American Federation of Government Employees, Afl-Cio, Local 1592 v. Federal Labor Relations Authority

May 1, 200210th CircuitDefendant Win

Syed M.A. Hasan v. United States Department of Labor, Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation, Intervenor

Apr 26, 200210th CircuitDefendant Win

Peppers

Apr 17, 2002D. Kan.Defendant Win

Allen Marshall Std. v. Union Pacific

Apr 8, 200210th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Estrada

Mar 15, 200210th CircuitDefendant Win

Hagerman

Mar 4, 200210th CircuitDefendant Win

Earnest

Feb 22, 2002D. Colo.Mixed Result

Spaulding v. United Transportation Union

Feb 5, 200210th CircuitDefendant Win

Spaulding

Feb 5, 200210th CircuitDefendant Win

Ellison

Jan 28, 2002D.N.M.Defendant Win

Showing 1,2511,300 of 1,434 rulings · Page 26 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.