Supreme Court Ruling Makes It Easier for Employees to Revive Dismissed Lawsuits

A recent ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court makes it easier for employees to revive a dismissed lawsuit in some situations.

It’s important for employers to know when the ruling applies – and not to get too comfortable when an applicant, employee or former employee voluntarily dismisses a lawsuit against them.

Job Termination Leads to Age Bias Lawsuit

After Gary Waetzig was terminated from his job at Halliburton, he filed a lawsuit alleging illegal age discrimination.

Responding to the lawsuit, the company said that Waetzig was required to submit his claim to arbitration.

Waetzig agreed to submit the claim to arbitration. But he also had to do something about the lawsuit he had already filed. He could have asked the court to put that suit on hold by requesting a stay of the court proceedings.

Instead, he chose to proceed under a federal civil procedure rule that permits plaintiffs to dismiss their cases on their own as long as the other side has not yet answered their complaint or filed a motion for summary judgment. Under that rule, a court order is not needed to confirm the dismissal.

Here, the company had not responded, so the court case was dismissed without any court action.

The dismissal of the court case was “without prejudice,” meaning that Waetzig preserved his right to refile the same claim at a later date – presumably by filing a new lawsuit.

Arbitrator Sides With Employer

After an arbitrator ruled in favor of the company, Waetzig asked the court to reopen the case he had voluntarily dismissed — instead of filing a new lawsuit to reassert his age discrimination claim.

The court was skeptical because, technically speaking, that case was over.

But Waetzig said another federal civil procedure rule – one that gives courts discretion to “relieve a party … from a final judgment, order, or proceeding,” including in cases involving a “mistake” – applied.

The court agreed, finding that the voluntary dismissal was a “final proceeding” under the rule and that Waetzig made a “careless mistake” when he voluntarily dismissed his suit.

The court then granted Waetzig’s motion to vacate the arbitrator’s ruling.

On further review, a federal appeals court decided that the voluntary dismissal did not count as a “final proceeding.”

After the appeals court reversed the lower court’s ruling, the case reached the U.S. Supreme Court for further review.

Supreme Court: Final Means Final

The Supreme Court decided that a voluntary dismissal of a lawsuit without prejudice is a final proceeding under the applicable rule – and that courts can reopen those suits.

“A voluntary dismissal without prejudice is [a] ‘final’ act,” the Supreme Court said.

The Supreme Court rejected the company’s argument that a narrower definition of “final” should apply. It concluded that a voluntary dismissal without prejudice is a “proceeding” under the rule, saying that the word includes all formal steps taken after a lawsuit is filed.

The Court unanimously ruled that a voluntary dismissal without prejudice is a “final proceeding” under the federal civil procedure rules and that courts can relieve parties from such dismissals and reopen the case in enumerated circumstances – including cases involving a mistake.

Importantly, the Supreme Court did not consider the question of whether the district court had jurisdiction over Waetzig’s motion to vacate the arbitrator’s ruling. Instead, it left that question for the lower courts to review.

In fact, it went out of its way to point out that it was expressing no view on whether the decision to vacate the arbitrator’s ruling was the correct one.

The case was remanded for further proceedings.

Supreme Court Ruling: What’s the Impact?

This case presented a narrow question involving the proper interpretation of federal civil procedural rules.

It’s a small win for employees who find themselves in the unusual situation of seeking to reopen a court case that they had earlier dismissed on a voluntary basis.

Still, employers need to remember that cases involving voluntary dismissal may be reopened at a later time – and to work carefully with counsel to gain a clear understanding of when litigation against them is over for good.

What the Ruling Means for HR

The Supreme Court’s decision in Waetzig v. Halliburton clarifies that an employee who voluntarily dismisses a lawsuit can still ask the court to reopen it – if certain conditions are met, such as showing the dismissal was a mistake.

For HR, this means it’s important to treat even voluntarily dismissed lawsuits with care. Legal challenges may resurface, so work with counsel to confirm when a case is truly closed and consider the broader context before assuming a matter is resolved.

Waetzig v. Halliburton Energy Services, Inc., No. 23-971, 2025 U.S. LEXIS 868 (U.S. 2/26/25).