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

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Kansas City Southern Railway

Jun 28, 2000D. Kan.Mixed Result

Norris

Jun 27, 200010th CircuitDismissed

Robinson

May 31, 2000D. Colo.Defendant Win

Paddock

Apr 26, 200010th CircuitDefendant Win

Anderson

Apr 18, 200010th CircuitDefendant Win

Springer

Mar 21, 2000N.D. Okla.Dismissed

United Food & Commercial Workers Union, Local 1564 of New Mexico v. Albertson's, Inc.

Mar 16, 200010th CircuitDefendant Win

Powell

Mar 2, 200010th CircuitMixed Result

Winton

Feb 22, 2000N.D. Okla.Mixed Result

Johnson v. Kimberly Clark Worldwide, Inc.

Feb 16, 2000D. UtahRemanded

Augustine

Feb 4, 2000D. Kan.Defendant Win

National Labor Relations Board v. F & A Food Sales, Inc.

Jan 28, 200010th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Skultin

Jan 28, 2000D. UtahPlaintiff Win

NLRB v. F & A Food Sales

Jan 28, 200010th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Brown

Jan 20, 2000D. Wyo.Defendant Win

Adams

Jan 10, 200010th CircuitMixed Result

Otero

Dec 21, 199910th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Swift Transportation Co.

Nov 12, 1999D. Kan.Defendant Win

Dobson

Oct 26, 1999D. Colo.Defendant Win

EEOC v. United Airlines

Jun 17, 199910th CircuitDefendant Win

Ackerman

Jun 10, 199910th CircuitDefendant Win

Garcia

Mar 30, 1999D. Colo.Defendant Win

Terwilliger

Mar 18, 1999N.D. Okla.Settlement

Foote

Feb 23, 1999D. UtahDefendant Win

Teresita Pack v. Kmart Corporation, a Michigan Corporation Steve Nicholas, an Individual, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Amicus Curiae

Feb 4, 199910th CircuitDefendant Win

Fitzgerald

Jan 20, 1999N.D. Okla.Defendant Win

Padilla

Jan 19, 1999D. Colo.Mixed Result

Toth

Dec 15, 1998D. Colo.Defendant Win

Manning

Dec 8, 1998D. Colo.Plaintiff Win

National Labor Relations Board v. Pueblo of San Juan

Nov 30, 1998D.N.M.Defendant Win

Weaver

Nov 25, 1998D. UtahPlaintiff Win

East High Gay/Straight Alliance v. Board of Education of Salt Lake City School District

Nov 24, 1998D. UtahPlaintiff Win

Albertson's, Inc. v. NLRB

Nov 10, 199810th CircuitDefendant Win

Conoco, Inc. v. Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers International Union

Nov 9, 1998N.D. Okla.Defendant Win

Fell

Nov 4, 1998D. Colo.Mixed Result

ARAMARK Corporation v. NLRB

Sep 22, 199810th CircuitPlaintiff Win

NLRB v. I.W.G., Inc.

May 18, 199810th CircuitMixed Result

Worman

May 11, 1998D. Wyo.Defendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Apr 27, 1998D.N.M.Plaintiff Win

Carr

Apr 17, 1998D. Colo.Plaintiff Win

Lundahl

Mar 24, 1998D. UtahDismissed

Powers

Feb 3, 1998D. Wyo.Mixed Result

Keil

Sep 15, 1997D. Colo.Remanded

Starks

Jan 31, 1997D. Colo.Mixed Result

Blue Circle Cement v. NLRB

Jan 24, 199710th CircuitMixed Result

Smith v. Norwest Financial Wyoming, Inc.

Oct 15, 1996D. Wyo.Plaintiff Win

Stephen H. Bohn v. Park City Group, Inc. And Randy Fields

Sep 26, 199610th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Mangrum

Aug 26, 1996D. UtahSettlement

Doe Ex Rel. Doe v. Independent School District No. 9

Aug 8, 1996N.D. Okla.Plaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. MTS Corp.

Jul 26, 1996D.N.M.Mixed Result

Showing 1,3511,400 of 1,434 rulings · Page 28 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.