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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 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

Hirschfeld

Sep 25, 2019D. Colo.Defendant Win

Bagoue

Sep 23, 2019D. Colo.Plaintiff Win

Calderon

Sep 17, 2019D. Colo.Plaintiff Win

Amerson

Sep 16, 2019D. Colo.Defendant Win

Bush

Sep 11, 2019D. Colo.Dismissed

Oransky

Sep 6, 2019D. Colo.Defendant Win

Dennis

Sep 5, 2019D. Colo.Defendant Win

Smith v. TFI Family Services, Inc.

Sep 4, 2019D. Kan.Plaintiff Win

Peterson

Aug 23, 2019D. Colo.Defendant Win

Hakeem

Aug 23, 2019D. Colo.Remanded

Kahler

Aug 20, 2019D. Colo.Defendant Win

Raymond

Aug 14, 2019D. Kan.Defendant Win

EEOC v. Centura Health

Aug 13, 201910th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Christensen

Jul 31, 2019N.D. Okla.Dismissed

Krehbiel

Jul 26, 2019D. Kan.Dismissed

Peabody Twentymile Mining v. Secretary of Labor

Jul 18, 201910th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Union Pacific Railroad v. Utah State Tax Commission

Jul 17, 2019D. UtahDefendant Win

United Government Security Officers of America International Union v. American Eagle Protective Service

Jun 11, 2019D. UtahDefendant Win

Hund

Mar 26, 2019D. Kan.Defendant Win

NLRB v. Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating

Jan 29, 201910th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Salemi

Aug 17, 201810th CircuitDefendant Win

Hockaday

Jul 16, 201810th CircuitDefendant Win

Jake's Fireworks v. Department of Labor

Jun 28, 201810th CircuitDefendant Win

Hankishiyev

Apr 25, 201810th CircuitDefendant Win

Dish Network v. NLRB

Mar 7, 201810th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Jetstream Ground Services, Inc.

Dec 28, 201710th CircuitDefendant Win

Laurich v. Red Lobster Rests., LLC

Nov 8, 2017D.N.M.Defendant Win

Laul

Oct 23, 201710th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. CollegeAmerica Denver, Inc.

Sep 5, 201710th CircuitRemanded

GCIU-Employer Retirement Fund v. Coleridge Fine Arts

Aug 16, 201710th CircuitRemanded

Selco Community Credit Union v. Noodles & Co.

Jul 21, 2017D. Colo.Defendant Win

Tucker

Jun 20, 201710th CircuitDefendant Win

Jackson v. Education & Employment Ministry

Apr 24, 201710th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. BNSF Railway Co.

Apr 11, 201710th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Tricore Reference Laboratories

Feb 27, 201710th CircuitDefendant Win

Collins

Aug 22, 201610th CircuitDefendant Win

Lebahn

Jul 11, 201610th CircuitDefendant Win

Benavidez

Jun 27, 2016D.N.M.Dismissed

Resource Associates Grant Writing & Evaluation Services, Inc. v. Southampton Union Free School District

Jun 15, 2016D.N.M.Dismissed

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. PJ Utah, LLC

May 18, 201610th CircuitMixed Result

United Food & Commercial Workers International Union, Local No. 7 v. King Soopers, Inc.

Apr 20, 2016D. Colo.Plaintiff Win

Chavez

Mar 31, 2016D. Colo.Defendant Win

Robinson

Mar 10, 201610th CircuitDefendant Win

BNSF Railway Co. v. United States Department of Labor

Mar 7, 201610th CircuitMixed Result

Adair

Feb 22, 201610th CircuitDefendant Win

National Labor Relations Board v. Community Health Services, Inc.

Jan 20, 201610th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Lounds v. Lincare, Inc.

Dec 22, 201510th CircuitMixed Result

Kennett

Sep 24, 2015D. Colo.Plaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. BNSF Railway Co.

Aug 21, 2015D. Kan.Defendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Beverage Distributors Co.

Mar 16, 201510th CircuitRemanded

Showing 301–350 of 552 rulings · Page 7 of 12

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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.