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 552 published rulings we track here (1972–2026), 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 552 published rulings we track in the Tenth Circuit.

Defendant Win
271 (49%)
Plaintiff Win
84 (15%)
Dismissed
82 (15%)
Mixed Result
64 (12%)
Settlement
26 (5%)
Remanded
25 (5%)

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 537 rulings we could classify by stage were decided.

Appeal
162 (30%)

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
131 (24%)

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 131 summary-judgment rulings here, 99 ended the case in the employer’s favor and 32 let the worker’s claims continue.

Motion to dismiss
186 (35%)

An early request — usually by the employer — to throw the case out before any evidence is gathered.

Trial verdict
19 (4%)

A judge or jury heard the evidence and reached a decision. Relatively few disputes get this far.

Settlement / consent decree
25 (5%)

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
8 (1%)

A decision entered because one side did not respond to the case at all.

Other rulings
6 (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

Devillaz

May 15, 2023D. Colo.Mixed Result

Bolonchuk

Apr 12, 2023D. Colo.Defendant Win

Spencer

Apr 6, 2023D. Colo.Dismissed

Tucker

Mar 30, 2023D.N.M.Defendant Win

Porter

Mar 28, 2023D. Colo.Mixed Result

Viviani

Mar 9, 2023W.D. Okla.Mixed Result

Smith v. Highland Community College

Mar 9, 2023D. Kan.Defendant Win

Spencer

Feb 24, 2023D. Colo.Dismissed

Brown

Feb 6, 2023W.D. Okla.Defendant Win

Castrillo

Feb 3, 2023D. Colo.Dismissed

Stephen

Jan 20, 2023W.D. Okla.Dismissed

Kennedy v. Life Care Centers of America

Jan 11, 2023D. Colo.Defendant Win

Flanigan

Jan 4, 2023D. Colo.Mixed Result

Garcia

Jan 3, 2023D. Colo.Dismissed

Armstrong

Nov 30, 2022D. Kan.Mixed Result

Morales

Nov 16, 2022D. Colo.Mixed Result

Nevada, State of v. Gilbert

Oct 14, 2022D. Kan.Dismissed

Garner

Oct 7, 2022D. Kan.Defendant Win

Hernandez

Sep 26, 2022D. Colo.Defendant Win

United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, Local No. 7, AFL-CIO v. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Colorado

Sep 23, 2022D. Colo.Plaintiff Win

Brass

Sep 22, 2022D. Colo.Defendant Win

Shannon

Sep 21, 2022D. Colo.Defendant Win

Wooley

Sep 21, 2022D. Colo.Mixed Result

Miles

Sep 15, 2022D. Colo.Mixed Result

Lewis

Sep 15, 2022D. Colo.Defendant Win

Maestas

Sep 12, 2022D. Colo.Remanded

Velazquez Parra v. Accurate Precision LLC

Aug 22, 2022D. Colo.Plaintiff Win

Mitten

Aug 19, 2022D. Kan.Defendant Win

Madsen

Aug 15, 2022D. Colo.Dismissed

Adams

Aug 8, 2022D.N.M.Remanded

Danderson

Jul 29, 2022D.N.M.Remanded

Harris

Jul 26, 2022D. Colo.Defendant Win

Cummings v. American Postal Worker's Union

Jun 17, 202210th CircuitDefendant Win

Timmons

Jun 16, 2022D. Kan.Dismissed

O'Flaherty

Jun 13, 2022D.N.M.Dismissed

Ortiz

Jun 9, 2022D. Kan.Defendant Win

Coronado Jr. v. Flowers Food, Inc.

Jun 7, 2022D.N.M.Settlement

Carter

Jun 3, 2022D. Kan.Defendant Win

Glapion-Pressley

May 24, 2022D. Colo.Defendant Win

Warren

Apr 25, 2022D. Colo.Plaintiff Win

Velasco

Apr 25, 2022D. Colo.Settlement

Harvey

Apr 20, 2022D. Kan.Defendant Win

Timmons

Apr 18, 2022D. Kan.Remanded

Ross

Apr 13, 2022D. Kan.Plaintiff Win

Garza

Apr 11, 2022W.D. Okla.Mixed Result

Schone

Mar 31, 2022D. Colo.Defendant Win

Stephens

Mar 25, 2022N.D. Okla.Dismissed

Martinez

Mar 22, 2022D. Colo.Dismissed

Griswold

Mar 18, 2022D. Colo.Dismissed

Cordova

Mar 14, 2022D. Kan.Dismissed

Showing 101–150 of 552 rulings · Page 3 of 12

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.