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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

Secretary United States Department of Labor v. American Future Systems, Inc.

Oct 13, 20173rd CircuitPlaintiff Win

Tonge

Sep 29, 2017E.D. Pa.Dismissed

American Civil Rights Union v. Philadelphia City Commissioners

Sep 25, 20173rd CircuitDefendant Win

Dowling v. Pension Plan for Salaried Employees of Union Pacific Corp. & Affiliates

Sep 15, 20173rd CircuitDefendant Win

Employer Trustees of Western Pennsylvania Teamsters v. Union Trustees of Western Pennsylvania Teamsters

Aug 31, 20173rd CircuitRemanded

National Labor Relations Board v. New Vista Nursing & Rehabilitation

Aug 29, 20173rd CircuitRemanded

Doe ex rel. Doe v. Boyertown Area School District

Aug 25, 2017E.D. Pa.Dismissed

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Bob Evans Farms, LLC

Aug 17, 2017W.D. Pa.Plaintiff Win

Coleen Remp v. Alcon Laboratories Inc

Jul 25, 20173rd CircuitDefendant Win

Pirinate Consulting Group, LLC v. Kadant Solutions Division (In re NewPage Corp.)

Jul 12, 2017D. Del.Defendant Win

Nealey

Jun 13, 2017E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Sheila Horton v. Fedchoice Federal Credit Union

May 2, 20173rd CircuitDefendant Win

Blanche Brown v. Jenna Mercadante

Apr 24, 20173rd CircuitMixed Result

Secretary United States Department of Labor v. Kwasny

Apr 5, 20173rd CircuitDefendant Win

Kehoe v. International Ass'n of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 21

Mar 13, 20173rd CircuitDefendant Win

Evancho v. Pine-Richland School District

Feb 27, 2017W.D. Pa.Plaintiff Win

Laborers' Combined Funds of Western Pennsylvania v. Molinaro Corp.

Feb 16, 2017W.D. Pa.Plaintiff Win

Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc. v. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

Feb 1, 2017D. Del.Mixed Result

National Labor Relations Board v. Sub Acute Rehabilitation Center at Kearny, LLC

Jan 11, 20173rd CircuitDefendant Win

Fair Laboratory Practices Asso v. Chris Riedel

Dec 7, 20163rd CircuitRemanded

Clive Baron v. Abbott Laboratories

Nov 29, 20163rd CircuitDefendant Win

United Steel Paper & Forestry Rubber Manufacturing Allied Industrial & Service Workers International Union AFL-CIO-CLC v. Government of the Virgin Islands

Nov 15, 20163rd CircuitPlaintiff Win

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Scott Medical Health Center, P.C.

Nov 4, 2016W.D. Pa.Defendant Win

National Labor Relations Board v. Salem Hospital Corp.

Sep 29, 20163rd CircuitPlaintiff Win

D.A. Nolt, Inc. v. Local Union No. 30 United Union of Roofers

Sep 23, 20163rd CircuitDefendant Win

Newark Portfolio JV, LLC v. National Labor Relations Board

Sep 1, 20163rd CircuitDefendant Win

Secretary of Labor v. James Doyle

Aug 18, 20163rd CircuitMixed Result

National Labor Relations Board v. Regency Heritage Nursing & Rehabilitation Center

Aug 16, 20163rd CircuitDefendant Win

National Labor Relations Board v. FedEx Freight, Inc.

Aug 9, 20163rd CircuitDefendant Win

Nina Shahin v. Delaware Federal Credit Union

Aug 1, 20163rd CircuitPlaintiff Win

Union Trustees of W. Pa Teamsters v. Employees of W.Pa Teamsters

Jul 15, 2016W.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Brockway Mould, Inc. v. United Steel Paper & Forestry Rubber Manufacturing Energy Allied Industrial & Service Workers International Union

Jul 15, 20163rd CircuitDefendant Win

Billy Stewart v. Union County Board of Educatio

Jul 13, 20163rd CircuitDefendant Win

1621 Route 22 West Operating Co. v. National Labor Relations Board

Jun 6, 20163rd CircuitDefendant Win

Gupta v. Secretary United States Department of Labor

May 5, 20163rd CircuitDefendant Win

Advanced Disposal Services East, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Apr 21, 20163rd CircuitRemanded

Secretary United States Department of Labor v. Koresko

Apr 5, 20163rd CircuitDefendant Win

Dowling

Mar 24, 2016E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Becknell v. Severance Pay Plan of Johnson & Johnson

Mar 21, 20163rd CircuitDefendant Win

SEPTA

Mar 8, 20163rd CircuitDefendant Win

Debra Steele v. Pelmor Laboratories Inc

Mar 4, 20163rd CircuitDefendant Win

United Ass'n of Journeyman & Apprentice Plumbers & Pipefitters of the United States & Canada Local 74 v. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 313

Feb 29, 20163rd CircuitDefendant Win

MCPc Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Feb 12, 20163rd CircuitMixed Result

Castellano

Feb 10, 2016E.D. Pa.Plaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Fedex Ground Package System, Inc.

Jan 25, 2016W.D. Pa.Mixed Result

Morris Road Partners, LLC v. National Labor Relations Board

Jan 19, 20163rd CircuitDefendant Win

Laurence Kaplan v. Saint Peter's Healthcare Syste

Dec 29, 20153rd CircuitPlaintiff Win

Catherine Willis v. Childrens Hospital of Pittsbur

Dec 22, 20153rd CircuitDefendant Win

Sandra Babcock v. Butler County

Nov 24, 20153rd CircuitDefendant Win

Matthew Faush v. Tuesday Morning

Nov 18, 20153rd CircuitRemanded

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.