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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

Bozner

Jul 23, 1996D. Wyo.Defendant Win

Capitol Steel & Iron v. NLRB

Jul 10, 199610th CircuitDefendant Win

Ready Mixed Concrete v. NLRB

Apr 26, 199610th CircuitDefendant Win

Intermountain Rural v. NLRB

Apr 22, 199610th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Wiltel, Inc.

Apr 18, 199610th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Wiltel, Inc.

Apr 18, 199610th CircuitDefendant Win

Roe

Jan 11, 1996D. Colo.Mixed Result

O'HARA

Nov 13, 1995N.D. Okla.Defendant Win

Clarence J. Anderson v. Mile High Child Care, Civil Rights Commission of Colorado, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

May 11, 199510th CircuitDefendant Win

Ronald L. Aaron, Plaintiffs-Appellees/cross-Appellants v. The City of Wichita, Kansas, Defendant-Appellant/, Cross-Appellee

May 9, 199510th CircuitMixed Result

Besso

Apr 26, 1995D. Wyo.Defendant Win

Kimberly Manard v. Fort Howard Corporation and David Sexton, Equal Employment Advisory Council, Amicus Curiae

Feb 14, 199510th CircuitRemanded

Gressley

Oct 5, 1994D. Wyo.Defendant Win

Chet A. Hurd v. Pittsburg State University, and William Mark Simmons, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Amicus Curiae

Jul 12, 199410th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Wilford L. Severance v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, Mary E. Severance v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

Nov 26, 199310th CircuitDismissed

Cecil Cooper v. Holiday Inn and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Aug 16, 199310th CircuitDismissed

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Foothills Title Guaranty Company

Mar 2, 199210th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Grinnell Fire Protection Systems Co.

May 21, 1991D. Kan.Plaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Ackerman, Hood & McQueen, Inc.

Feb 20, 1991W.D. Okla.Plaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Wendy's of Colorado Springs, Inc.

Dec 27, 1989D. Colo.Defendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. General Motors Corp.

May 16, 1989D. Kan.Defendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Sperry Corp.

Jul 18, 198810th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Commercial Office Products Company

Dec 23, 198610th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Local 798 of the United Ass'n of Journeymen

Sep 5, 1986N.D. Okla.Mixed Result

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. PRUDENTIAL FEDERAL SAVINGS AND LOAN ASSOCIATION, Defendant-Appellant

May 28, 198510th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company

Jul 13, 198410th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Ford Motor Co.

Feb 11, 1983D. Colo.Mixed Result

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. University of Oklahoma

Dec 17, 1982W.D. Okla.Settlement

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. C. A. Norgren Co.

Mar 10, 1982D. Colo.Defendant Win

Image (Inc. Mex.-Am. Gov't Emp.) v. Eeoc

May 3, 1979D. Colo.Defendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Mead Foods, Inc.

Mar 28, 1977W.D. Okla.Mixed Result

Cessna Aircraft Co. v. National Labor Relations Board

Dec 2, 1975D. Kan.Plaintiff Win

Climax Molybdenum Co. v. National Labor Relations Board

Nov 14, 1975D. Colo.Defendant Win

MOLYBDENUM CORPORATION OF AMERICA, Petitioner-Appellee, v. EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Respondent-Appellant

Mar 29, 197210th CircuitRemanded

Showing 1,4011,434 of 1,434 rulings · Page 29 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.