Skip to main content

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

Ramadan

Oct 6, 20003rd CircuitDefendant Win

Taylor

Sep 19, 2000E.D. Pa.Mixed Result

Chavarry Ex Rel. National Labor Relations Board v. Innovative Communications Corp.

Sep 14, 2000VIDPlaintiff Win

Frank P. Ieradi v. Mylan Laboratories, Inc.

Aug 25, 20003rd CircuitDefendant Win

Ieradi

Aug 25, 20003rd CircuitDefendant Win

Foley

Aug 25, 2000E.D. Pa.Plaintiff Win

United Transportation Union Local 759 v. Orange Newark Elizabeth Bus, Inc.

Aug 22, 2000D.N.J.Defendant Win

National Labor Relations Board v. Prime Energy Ltd. Partnership

Aug 9, 20003rd CircuitDefendant Win

Orvosh

Jul 28, 20003rd CircuitDefendant Win

United Food & Commercial Workers Union v. Fleming Foods East, Inc.

Jun 29, 2000D.N.J.Plaintiff Win

Sotack

Jun 28, 2000E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Dubose

Jun 9, 2000E.D. Pa.Mixed Result

Cadapult Graphic Systems, Inc. v. Tektronix, Inc.

May 18, 2000D.N.J.Defendant Win

Cortes

Apr 18, 2000M.D. Pa.Mixed Result

Sallada

Apr 11, 2000M.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Foley

Mar 29, 2000E.D. Pa.Mixed Result

Snyder

Mar 22, 2000M.D. Pa.Mixed Result

Folger Adam Security, Inc. v. Dematteis/Macgregor, Jv

Mar 20, 20003rd CircuitDefendant Win

Atlantic Adjustment Co. v. U.S. Dept. of Labor

Mar 14, 2000E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

David Adams v. Freedom Forge Corporation

Mar 7, 20003rd CircuitMixed Result

Adams

Mar 7, 20003rd CircuitMixed Result

New Castle County v. National Union Fire Insurance

Feb 22, 2000D. Del.Defendant Win

Audio Video Center, Inc. v. First Union Nat'l Bank

Feb 11, 2000E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Dingle

Feb 8, 2000W.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Varela

Oct 21, 1999E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Bishop

Oct 7, 1999E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Baltuskonis

Aug 17, 1999E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Basile

Aug 12, 1999E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Kauffman

Mar 2, 1999E.D. Pa.Plaintiff Win

Pittman

Feb 3, 1999E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

22 Employee Benefits Cas. 2169, Pens. Plan Guide (Cch) P 23950a

Dec 18, 19983rd CircuitRemanded

CPS Chemical Co. v. National Labor Relations Board

Nov 9, 19983rd CircuitPlaintiff Win

NLRB v. Pub Serv Elec & Gas

Oct 13, 19983rd CircuitPlaintiff Win

Jones

Oct 7, 1998E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Rockwell

Sep 10, 1998E.D. Pa.Mixed Result

Caplan

Apr 30, 1998E.D. Pa.Mixed Result

Latch

Nov 12, 1997E.D. Pa.Mixed Result

Township of Whitehall v. Allentown Auto Auction

Jun 18, 1997E.D. Pa.Remanded

In Re Unisys Corp. Retiree Medical Benefits ERISA

Mar 10, 1997E.D. Pa.Mixed Result

Hertz Corp. v. NLRB

Feb 6, 19973rd CircuitDefendant Win

Hertz Corp. v. NLRB

Jan 28, 19973rd CircuitDefendant Win

20 Employee Benefits Cas. 2422, Pens. Plan Guide (Cch) P 23933r

Jan 13, 19973rd CircuitDefendant Win

INTERN. LONGSHORE. UN. 1332 v. Intern. Longshore.

Sep 12, 1996E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Penchishen

Jul 24, 1996E.D. Pa.Defendant Win

Adams

May 7, 1996E.D. Pa.Dismissed

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Kentucky State Police Department

Apr 1, 19963rd CircuitPlaintiff Win

Schofield

Mar 11, 1996E.D. Pa.Plaintiff Win

In re Unisys Corp. Long-Term Disability Plan ERISA Litigation

Oct 30, 19953rd CircuitDefendant Win

In Re Unisys Corp. Retiree Med. Bene. ERISA Lit.

Mar 20, 1995E.D. Pa.Settlement

Furniture Renters of Amer. v. NLRB

Sep 27, 19943rd CircuitMixed Result

Browse Other Circuits

Explore employment rulings from the other federal circuits.

Facing something similar at work?Check your rights — free, private, no sign-up

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.