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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

LOCAL 88502 OF THE INTERNATIONAL UNION OF ELECTRONIC, ELECTRICAL, SALARIED, MACHINE AND FURNITURE WORKER AFL-CIO-CWA v. MORGAN ADVANCED MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGY, INC.

Aug 9, 2019W.D. Pa.Defendant Win

NLRB v. 800 River Road Operating Co LL

Aug 6, 20193rd CircuitDefendant Win

Caesars Entm't Corp. v. Int'l Union of Operating Eng'rs Local 68 Pension Fund

Aug 1, 20193rd CircuitDefendant Win

PAGE

Aug 1, 2019D.N.J.Dismissed

MARASEK

Jul 31, 2019D.N.J.Mixed Result

INDEPENDENT LABORATORY EMPLOYEES' UNION, INC. v. EXXONMOBIL RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING COMPANY

Jul 29, 2019D.N.J.Plaintiff Win

Norman Hansen v. International Union of Painter

Jul 24, 20193rd CircuitDefendant Win

Cowher

Jul 23, 2019M.D. Pa.Plaintiff Win

BOWIE

Jul 22, 2019D.N.J.Dismissed

Molina

Jul 18, 2019M.D. Pa.Dismissed

MUNS

Jul 17, 2019D.N.J.Remanded

TRUSTEES OF INTERNATIONAL UNION OF PAINTERS AND ALLIED TRADES DISTRICT COUNCIL 711 HEALTH & WELFARE FUND v. VALHALLA CONSTRUCTION, LLC

Jul 9, 2019D.N.J.Plaintiff Win

RITZ HOTELS SERVICES, LLC v. BROTHERHOOD OF AMALGAMATED TRADES LOCAL UNION 514

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

THOMPSON

Jun 26, 2019D.N.J.Remanded

Behalf v. Am. Airlines Grp., Inc.

Jun 18, 2019E.D. Pa.Remanded

DEJESUS

Jun 4, 2019D.N.J.Defendant Win

DIBUONAVENTURA

Jun 3, 2019D.N.J.Defendant Win

NEW JERSEY BUILDING LABORERS' STATEWIDE PENSION FUND AND TRUSTEES THEREOF v. RIVER DRIVE COMPANIES, LLC.

May 31, 2019D.N.J.Plaintiff Win

NLRB v. Midland Electrical Contractin

May 28, 20193rd CircuitDefendant Win

Akaninyene Akan v. Adam Summers

May 15, 20193rd CircuitDefendant Win

Clive Baron v. Abbott Laboratories

May 9, 20193rd CircuitDefendant Win

United States ex rel. Int'l Bhd. of Elec. Workers Local Union No. 98 v. Farfield Co.

May 2, 2019E.D. Pa.Dismissed

James Adams v. Governor of Delaware

Apr 10, 20193rd CircuitPlaintiff Win

James Adams v. Governor of Delaware

Apr 10, 20193rd CircuitRemanded

Behalf v. Am. Airlines Grp., Inc.

Apr 2, 2019E.D. Pa.Mixed Result

County Concrete Corp v. NLRB

Mar 28, 20193rd CircuitDefendant Win

Regional Employers Assurance L v. Gretechen Hutto Castellano

Mar 13, 20193rd CircuitPlaintiff Win

USCIS

Mar 7, 20193rd CircuitDefendant Win

USCIS

Mar 7, 20193rd CircuitDefendant Win

Leslie Thomas v. Union County Court

Feb 27, 20193rd CircuitDefendant Win

Thomas Skold v. Galderma Laboratories LP

Feb 26, 20193rd CircuitMixed Result

James Adams v. Governor of Delaware

Feb 5, 20193rd CircuitMixed Result

Prater

Jan 7, 2019E.D. Pa.Dismissed

Nat'l Labor Relations Bd. v. Imagefirst Unif. Rental Serv., Inc.

Dec 18, 20183rd CircuitMixed Result

Jones Lang Lasalle Americas, Inc. v. Int'l Bhd. of Elec. Workers Local Union No. 313

Oct 5, 2018D. Del.Plaintiff Win

Serv. Emps. Int'l Union Local 32 BJ v. ShamrockClean, Inc.

Sep 7, 2018E.D. Pa.Plaintiff Win

Mona Estrada v. Johnson & Johnson

Sep 6, 20183rd CircuitDefendant Win

Joy Ebuzor-Onayemi v. Union County Police Department

Jun 5, 20183rd CircuitDefendant Win

Josue Guevara-Palada v. Attorney General United States

May 22, 20183rd CircuitDefendant Win

N.J. Bldg. Laborers' Statewide Pension Fund & Trs. Thereof v. Richard A. Pulaski Constr.

May 16, 2018D.N.J.Defendant Win

Donovan Estrada-Grajeda v. Attorney General United States

Apr 19, 20183rd CircuitDefendant Win

1621 Route 22 West Operating C v. NLRB

Mar 14, 20183rd CircuitMixed Result

Debra Steele v. Pelmor Laboratories Inc

Mar 13, 20183rd CircuitDefendant Win

Eckert

Jan 26, 2018M.D. Pa.Mixed Result

NLRB v. Mid Atlantic Restaurant Group

Jan 25, 20183rd CircuitPlaintiff Win

Esurance Insurance Co v. Lavada Bowser

Jan 23, 20183rd CircuitDefendant Win

Michael Quezada v. Attorney General United States

Jan 8, 20183rd CircuitDismissed

Leonard Cottrell v. Alcon Laboratories

Dec 22, 20173rd CircuitDefendant Win

Franklin v. Sessions

Dec 21, 2017W.D. Pa.Plaintiff Win

Jamie McKnight v. Aimbridge Employee Service Cor

Oct 26, 20173rd CircuitDefendant Win

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.