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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

NRLB

Nov 14, 20033rd CircuitDefendant Win

Fries

Nov 13, 2003E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Tobin

Oct 21, 20033rd CircuitDefendant Win

Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees Union, Local 57 v. Sage Hospitality Resources L.L.C.

Sep 30, 2003W.D. Pa.Plaintiff Win

Testerman

Sep 23, 2003D. Del.Defendant Win

Crane

Sep 16, 2003E.D. Pa.Plaintiff Win

Martinez

Sep 9, 2003D.N.J.Mixed Result

Martinez

Sep 9, 2003D.N.J.Mixed Result

Bair

Sep 4, 2003M.D. Pa.Mixed Result

Gashlin

Sep 4, 2003D.N.J.Defendant Win

National Labor Relations Board v. Central Pennsylvania Regional Counsel of Carpenters

Aug 28, 20033rd CircuitDefendant Win

Mettle

Aug 18, 2003D.N.J.Mixed Result

Paul F. McElroy v. Smithkline Beecham Health & Welfare Benefits Trust Plan for U.S. Employees Smithkline Beecham Unum Provident Corporation

Aug 6, 20033rd CircuitDefendant Win

William H. Burstein, M.D. v. Retirement Account Plan For Employees Of Allegheny Health Education And Research Foundation

Aug 1, 20033rd CircuitMixed Result

Executive Board of Transport Workers Union of Philadelphia, Local 234 v. Transport Workers Union

Jul 30, 20033rd CircuitPlaintiff Win

Velemirovich

Jul 22, 20033rd CircuitDefendant Win

Velemirovich

Jul 22, 20033rd CircuitDefendant Win

Weber

Jul 18, 2003E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Heffron

Jul 15, 2003D.N.J.Defendant Win

Burstein

Jul 2, 20033rd CircuitMixed Result

Keegan

Jun 26, 20033rd CircuitDefendant Win

Nichol

Jun 25, 2003W.D. Pa.Plaintiff Win

Haber

Jun 17, 2003E.D. Pa.Mixed Result

Local 27, United Food And, Commercial Workers Intern. Union, Afl-Cio v. Delaware Park, LLC

Jun 11, 2003D. Del.Defendant Win

Speziale

Jun 2, 2003E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Hornstine

May 30, 2003D.N.J.Plaintiff Win

Shire US Inc v. Barr Laboratories

May 23, 20033rd CircuitDefendant Win

Patterson

May 19, 2003D.N.J.Remanded

Carney

May 16, 20033rd CircuitPlaintiff Win

SHARMBAN

May 16, 2003E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Rothermel

May 8, 20033rd CircuitDefendant Win

National Labor Relations Board v. Lincoln Park Subacute & Rehab Center, Inc.

May 8, 20033rd CircuitPlaintiff Win

Scafar Contracting v. Secretary Labor

Apr 16, 20033rd CircuitPlaintiff Win

Communications Workers of America v. Verizon Communications Inc.

Mar 31, 2003E.D. Pa.Mixed Result

ID Security Systems Canada, Inc. v. Checkpoint Systems, Inc.

Mar 28, 2003E.D. Pa.Mixed Result

McCoy

Mar 25, 20033rd CircuitMixed Result

Mills

Mar 18, 2003W.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Spectacor Management Group v. National Labor Relations Board

Feb 13, 20033rd CircuitDefendant Win

Super Fresh Food Markets, Inc. v. UNITED FOOD AND COMMERCIAL WORKERS LOCAL UNION 1776

Feb 7, 2003E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Trucking Employees of North Jersey Welfare Fund, Inc. v. Bellezza Co.

Feb 6, 20033rd CircuitDefendant Win

Horizon House, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Feb 6, 20033rd CircuitDefendant Win

Ocasio

Jan 30, 2003E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

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

R.C.

Jan 29, 20033rd CircuitDefendant Win

Doyle

Jan 28, 2003E.D. Pa.Mixed Result

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

Jan 22, 20033rd CircuitPlaintiff Win

Sabree Ex Rel. Sabree v. Houston

Jan 17, 2003E.D. Pa.Dismissed

Grand Union Supermarkets of the Virgin Islands, Inc. v. H.E. Lockhart Management, Inc.

Jan 16, 20033rd CircuitRemanded

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

Jan 16, 20033rd CircuitPlaintiff 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.