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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 2,094 published rulings we track here (19672026), 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 2,094 published rulings we track in the Third Circuit.

Defendant Win
901 (43%)
Plaintiff Win
333 (16%)
Mixed Result
329 (16%)
Dismissed
318 (15%)
Remanded
170 (8%)
Settlement
43 (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 2,060 rulings we could classify by stage were decided.

Appeal
880 (43%)

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
357 (17%)

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 357 summary-judgment rulings here, 219 ended the case in the employer’s favor and 137 let the worker’s claims continue; the rest resolved in other ways.

Motion to dismiss
669 (32%)

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

Trial verdict
53 (3%)

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

Settlement / consent decree
32 (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
40 (2%)

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

Other rulings
29 (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

SARWAR

Jan 14, 2021D.N.J.Plaintiff Win

THE LABORERS DISTRICT COUNCIL CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY PENSION FUND v. MINISCALCO CORPORATION

Jan 12, 2021E.D. Pa.Dismissed

Pierre

Jan 11, 2021E.D. Pa.Mixed Result

N. W. v. UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH

Jan 8, 2021W.D. Pa.Mixed Result

Chinniah

Jan 8, 2021M.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Michelsen

Jan 6, 2021M.D. Pa.Defendant Win

WHITMORE

Dec 30, 2020E.D. Pa.Plaintiff Win

N. W. v. UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH

Dec 29, 2020W.D. Pa.Defendant Win

IBEW LOCAL UNION NO. 102 v. NEW WHITE ELECTRIC, INC.

Dec 29, 2020D.N.J.Remanded

FISCHER

Dec 23, 2020E.D. Pa.Mixed Result

TONG

Dec 22, 2020E.D. Pa.Plaintiff Win

Zoppas Industries de Mexico S.A. de C.V. v. Backer EHP, Inc.

Dec 22, 2020D. Del.Mixed Result

AUSTIN v. GIANT FOOD STORES

Dec 18, 2020E.D. Pa.Plaintiff Win

KANE

Dec 16, 2020E.D. Pa.Remanded

TRUSTEES OF THE NATIONAL ELEVATOR INDUSTRY PENSION FUND v. Maple Management LLC d/b/a RAE Lifts

Dec 15, 2020E.D. Pa.Plaintiff Win

SHAPLEY

Dec 14, 2020E.D. Pa.Dismissed

SAIYED

Dec 14, 2020D.N.J.Plaintiff Win

ROSS COOPERMAN, M.D., LLC v. HORIZON BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD OF NEW JERSEY

Dec 10, 2020D.N.J.Plaintiff Win

Zhaojin Ke v. Pennsylvania State Employees R

Dec 10, 20203rd CircuitDefendant Win

GREENBERG

Dec 8, 2020E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

ROPER

Dec 4, 2020E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

EASTERDAY

Dec 4, 2020D.N.J.Dismissed

DOE

Dec 3, 2020E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Laborers Local 231 Pension v. Rory Cowan

Dec 2, 20203rd CircuitDefendant Win

JONES

Dec 1, 2020D.N.J.Mixed Result

Conard

Nov 30, 2020M.D. Pa.Dismissed

Henkel

Nov 25, 2020M.D. Pa.Defendant Win

COPLEY

Nov 17, 2020W.D. Pa.Defendant Win

DIFLAVIS

Nov 16, 2020E.D. Pa.Settlement

ZOHNI

Nov 13, 2020E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

DOYLE

Nov 13, 2020D.N.J.Plaintiff Win

MECCA

Nov 10, 2020D.N.J.Mixed Result

ROBERTS

Nov 4, 2020E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

HANNA

Nov 3, 2020E.D. Pa.Remanded

BOARD OF TRUSTEES, ROOFERS UNION LOCAL 30 COMBINED HEALTH AND WELFARE FUND v. HUGHES URETHANE CONSTRUCTION CO., INC.

Nov 3, 2020E.D. Pa.Plaintiff Win

Andrea Irizarry v. Abbott Laboratories

Nov 3, 20203rd CircuitDefendant Win

MARLAND

Oct 30, 2020E.D. Pa.Dismissed

Boley

Oct 30, 2020E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Bolus

Oct 29, 2020M.D. Pa.Mixed Result

THE INDEPENDENCE PROJECT, INC. v. JCR MANAGEMENT SERVICES, INC.

Oct 29, 2020D.N.J.Defendant Win

SMITH v. RB DISTRIBUTION, INC.

Oct 28, 2020E.D. Pa.Mixed Result

Fischer

Oct 27, 2020M.D. Pa.Dismissed

Bolus

Oct 22, 2020M.D. Pa.Defendant Win

LUSTGARTEN

Oct 22, 2020D.N.J.Dismissed

JONES

Oct 21, 2020D.N.J.Dismissed

STEAMFITTERS UNION, LOCAL 420 WELFARE FUND v.DIRECT AIR, LLC

Oct 19, 2020E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

LOTT

Oct 19, 2020E.D. Pa.Mixed Result

MWIMBWA

Oct 15, 2020E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

NJ BUILDING LABORERS CONSTRUCTION LABORERS DISTRICT COUNCIL, NEW JERSEY BUILDING LABORERS STATEWIDE BENEFIT FUNDS and the TRUSTEES THEREOF v. NOVA CRETE INC.

Oct 15, 2020D.N.J.Defendant Win

ADAMS-BUFFALOE

Oct 14, 2020D.N.J.Defendant Win

Browse Other Circuits

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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.