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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

NACIREMA DEMOLITION AND RECYCLING, INC. v. NEW JERSEY BUILDING LABORERS STATEWIDE BENEFIT FUNDS

Mar 4, 2020D.N.J.Mixed Result

Belles

Mar 3, 2020M.D. Pa.Defendant Win

O'Malley

Mar 2, 2020M.D. Pa.Defendant Win

THOMPSON

Mar 2, 2020E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

FRUNGILLO

Feb 28, 2020W.D. Pa.Remanded

Wilson Guadalupe v. Attorney General United States

Feb 26, 20203rd CircuitPlaintiff Win

Brenton

Feb 26, 2020M.D. Pa.Remanded

HARRIS

Feb 20, 2020W.D. Pa.Plaintiff Win

PRESTON

Feb 19, 2020W.D. Pa.Dismissed

HILDEBRAND

Feb 19, 2020W.D. Pa.Remanded

WASHINGTON v. SMITH

Feb 18, 2020W.D. Pa.Defendant Win

P&A CONSTRUCTION, INC. v. INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OPERATING ENGINEERS LOCAL 825, AFL-CIO

Feb 18, 2020D.N.J.Defendant Win

COHN

Feb 12, 2020E.D. Pa.Mixed Result

BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LABORERS' DISTRICT COUNCIL CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY PENSION FUND v. VG CONCRETE, LLC

Feb 7, 2020E.D. Pa.Plaintiff Win

FITZGERALD

Feb 6, 2020E.D. Pa.Dismissed

DIFLAVIS

Feb 6, 2020E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Adam Wenzke v. Paola Munoz

Feb 6, 20203rd CircuitDefendant Win

YOUNG

Feb 3, 2020D.N.J.Dismissed

CLAIBORNE

Jan 31, 2020W.D. Pa.Defendant Win

KIDD

Jan 31, 2020D.N.J.Dismissed

TRUSTEES OF THE NEW JERSEY B.A.C. HEALTH FUND v. DORAN TATROW ASSOCIATES, INC.

Jan 31, 2020D.N.J.Remanded

ADAMS

Jan 29, 2020W.D. Pa.Dismissed

James

Jan 23, 2020D. Del.Plaintiff Win

Perez

Jan 17, 2020M.D. Pa.Defendant Win

FAMILY CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION v. CHILD PROTECTION AND PERMANENCY

Jan 16, 2020D.N.J.Defendant Win

BIALIK

Jan 15, 2020W.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Attanasio

Jan 14, 2020M.D. Pa.Defendant Win

ADAMS

Jan 10, 2020W.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Lawson

Jan 9, 2020M.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Lawson

Jan 8, 2020M.D. Pa.Plaintiff Win

Molyneaux

Jan 8, 2020M.D. Pa.Mixed Result

LABORERS' LOCAL UNION NOS. 472 AND 172 AND LABORERS' LOCAL UNION NOS. 472 AND 172 WELFARE AND PENSION FUNDS AND SAFETY, EDUCATION AND TRAINING FUNDS v. NINSA, LLC.

Jan 8, 2020D.N.J.Plaintiff Win

SAIYED

Jan 8, 2020D.N.J.Plaintiff Win

Coral Harbor Rehabilitation v. NLRB

Jan 6, 20203rd CircuitPlaintiff Win

K.L.

Jan 3, 2020M.D. Pa.Plaintiff Win

Monongahela Valley Hospital v. United Steel Paper and Forestr

Dec 30, 20193rd CircuitDefendant Win

THULEN

Dec 27, 2019D.N.J.Defendant Win

Coral Harbor Rehabilitation v. NLRB

Dec 26, 20193rd CircuitDefendant Win

CARROW

Dec 26, 2019D.N.J.Mixed Result

Daniel Ferreras v. American Airlines Inc

Dec 24, 20193rd CircuitDefendant Win

Lawson

Dec 23, 2019M.D. Pa.Defendant Win

THOMAS

Dec 19, 2019E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

CHARLOT

Dec 17, 2019D.N.J.Defendant Win

NLRB v. ImageFIRST Uniform Rental Serv

Dec 13, 20193rd CircuitDefendant Win

HENNESSEY

Dec 12, 2019W.D. Pa.Defendant Win

GOINS

Dec 11, 2019D.N.J.Defendant Win

Kioussis

Dec 10, 2019M.D. Pa.Defendant Win

BRANDON

Dec 10, 2019E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Choate

Dec 10, 2019D. Del.Mixed Result

GARVEY

Dec 4, 2019W.D. Pa.Mixed Result

Browse Other Circuits

Explore employment rulings from the other federal 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.