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Employment Rulings in the Third Circuit

The Third Circuit covers the federal courts in Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The rulings below come from the circuit's court of appeals and the federal trial courts within it.

Of the 871 published rulings we track here (1979–2026), 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 871 published rulings we track in the Third Circuit.

Defendant Win
406 (47%)
Plaintiff Win
154 (18%)
Dismissed
120 (14%)
Mixed Result
114 (13%)
Remanded
41 (5%)
Settlement
36 (4%)

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 863 rulings we could classify by stage were decided.

Appeal
259 (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
191 (22%)

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 191 summary-judgment rulings here, 129 ended the case in the employer’s favor and 62 let the worker’s claims continue.

Motion to dismiss
312 (36%)

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

Trial verdict
24 (3%)

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

Settlement / consent decree
35 (4%)

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
36 (4%)

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 Third Circuit covers.

Recent Rulings in the Third Circuit

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Hesco Parts Corp.

Jan 29, 20033rd CircuitDefendant Win

Jacee Electric, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Jan 29, 20033rd CircuitDefendant Win

A.G. Mazzocchi, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Jan 22, 20033rd CircuitPlaintiff Win

Grand Union Supermarkets Of The Virgin Islands, Inc. v. H.E. Lockhart Management, Inc.

Jan 16, 20033rd CircuitPlaintiff Win

Jane A. Gagliardo John Gagliardo v. Connaught Laboratories, Inc.

Nov 22, 20023rd CircuitPlaintiff Win

International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 542 v. Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission

Nov 19, 20023rd CircuitDefendant Win

Peter

Oct 7, 2002E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

American Postal Workers Union v. United States Postal Service

Aug 27, 2002E.D. Pa.Mixed Result

FES

Aug 12, 20023rd CircuitPlaintiff Win

National Labor Relations Board v. Fes, (A Division of Thermo Power)

Aug 8, 20023rd CircuitPlaintiff Win

Smathers

Jul 31, 20023rd CircuitPlaintiff Win

D'Alessandro

Jul 30, 2002D. Del.Dismissed

Sponaugle

Jul 25, 20023rd CircuitDefendant Win

Former Employees of Builders Square Retail Stores v. Hechinger Investment Co.

Jul 25, 20023rd CircuitDefendant Win

Innovative Communications Corp. v. National Labor Relations Board

Jun 13, 20023rd CircuitRemanded

Doyle

Mar 27, 20023rd CircuitDefendant Win

Poyner

Feb 19, 2002E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Marburger

Feb 4, 2002E.D. Pa.Dismissed

Pennsylvania Power Company v. Local Union No. 272 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Afl-Cio

Feb 1, 20023rd CircuitDefendant Win

Solomen

Jan 31, 2002E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Merck & Co., Inc. v. Barr Laboratories, Inc.

Jan 2, 2002D. Del.Defendant Win

Leonard

Oct 9, 2001M.D. Pa.Defendant Win

George A. Ross v. Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union Robert Baker, Co-Trustee Carol Carlson, Co-Trustee

Sep 17, 20013rd CircuitDefendant Win

Gregory Kerns v. Chalfont-New Britain Township Joint Sewage Authority

Aug 13, 20013rd CircuitDefendant Win

Falzett

Jul 23, 2001M.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Eastampton Center, LLC v. Township of Eastampton

Jul 9, 2001D.N.J.Defendant Win

Pryor

Jul 5, 2001E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Wallace

Apr 27, 2001E.D. Pa.Mixed Result

Kunwar

Mar 30, 2001E.D. Pa.Mixed Result

Atlantic Limousine, Inc., No. 99-5609 v. National Labor Relations Board, National Labor Relations Board, No. 99-5725 v. Atlantic Limousine, Inc.

Mar 16, 20013rd CircuitDefendant Win

Atlantic Limousine v. NLRB

Mar 16, 20013rd CircuitPlaintiff Win

Szydlowski

Feb 28, 2001E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Law

Feb 12, 2001E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Davies

Jan 8, 2001E.D. Pa.Mixed Result

Hudson County Carpenters Local Union No. 6 v. V.S.R. Construction Corp.

Dec 29, 2000D.N.J.Mixed Result

Frank P. Ieradi v. Mylan Laboratories, Inc.

Aug 25, 20003rd CircuitDefendant Win

Foley

Aug 25, 2000E.D. Pa.Plaintiff Win

United Transportation Union Local 759 v. Orange Newark Elizabeth Bus, Inc.

Aug 22, 2000D.N.J.Defendant Win

National Labor Relations Board v. Prime Energy Ltd. Partnership

Aug 9, 20003rd CircuitDefendant Win

Cadapult Graphic Systems, Inc. v. Tektronix, Inc.

May 18, 2000D.N.J.Defendant Win

Sallada

Apr 11, 2000M.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Atlantic Adjustment Co. v. U.S. Dept. of Labor

Mar 14, 2000E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

David Adams v. Freedom Forge Corporation

Mar 7, 20003rd CircuitMixed Result

New Castle County v. National Union Fire Insurance

Feb 22, 2000D. Del.Defendant Win

Dingle

Feb 8, 2000W.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Varela

Oct 21, 1999E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Bishop

Oct 7, 1999E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Baltuskonis

Aug 17, 1999E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Basile

Aug 12, 1999E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Latch

Nov 12, 1997E.D. Pa.Mixed Result

Showing 801–850 of 871 rulings · Page 17 of 18

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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.