Backing workers in discrimination suits. Signing off on a $1 billion class action judgment. Spurning attacks on federal regulations.

President Barack Obama’s appointees to the federal appeals courts have started to leave their mark on the business world, to the chagrin of corporate executives. Appellate lawyers say it’s too early to see major swings in the law, but individual rulings on labor, class actions and administrative law show signs of a shift to the left.