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Employment Rulings in the Eighth Circuit

The Eighth Circuit covers the federal courts in Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The rulings below come from the circuit's court of appeals and the federal trial courts within it.

Of the 1,462 published rulings we track here (19732026), 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 1,462 published rulings we track in the Eighth Circuit.

Defendant Win
660 (45%)
Plaintiff Win
255 (17%)
Mixed Result
244 (17%)
Dismissed
176 (12%)
Remanded
100 (7%)
Settlement
27 (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 1,452 rulings we could classify by stage were decided.

Appeal
647 (45%)

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
310 (21%)

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 310 summary-judgment rulings here, 196 ended the case in the employer’s favor and 114 let the worker’s claims continue.

Motion to dismiss
385 (27%)

An early request — usually by the employer — to throw the case out before any evidence is gathered.

Trial verdict
49 (3%)

A judge or jury heard the evidence and reached a decision. Relatively few disputes get this far.

Settlement / consent decree
26 (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
24 (2%)

A decision entered because one side did not respond to the case at all.

Other rulings
11 (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 Eighth Circuit covers.

Recent Rulings in the Eighth Circuit

Michael McKinzy v. Union Pacific Railroad Company

Jan 9, 20128th CircuitDefendant Win

Lenzen

Dec 30, 2011D. Minn.Defendant Win

Adams Bank & Trust v. FirsTier Bank

Dec 23, 2011D. Neb.Defendant Win

Union Insurance v. Hull & Co.

Dec 19, 2011S.D. IowaMixed Result

Fiend, Inc. v. International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees

Dec 5, 2011D. Minn.Defendant Win

Penford Corp. v. National Union Fire Insurance

Nov 29, 20118th CircuitDefendant Win

Matt Padavich v. Hartford Life Insurance Co.

Nov 10, 20118th CircuitDefendant Win

General Drivers & Helpers Union, Local 749 v. Wilson Trailer Co.

Oct 27, 2011D.S.D.Defendant Win

Ely

Oct 25, 2011E.D. Ark.Defendant Win

Stowers

Oct 19, 2011S.D. IowaDefendant Win

Adams v. Tyson Foods, Inc.

Oct 7, 20118th CircuitDefendant Win

National Labor Relations Board v. Leiferman Enterprises, LLC

Aug 12, 20118th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Crye-Leike, Inc.

Aug 3, 2011E.D. Ark.Settlement

Green

Jul 22, 20118th CircuitDefendant Win

Muhonen

Jul 18, 2011D. Minn.Defendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Schwan's Home Service

Jul 13, 20118th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Richard Purcell v. Union Pacific Railroad

Jul 8, 20118th CircuitDefendant Win

Fesler

Jul 5, 2011S.D. IowaDefendant Win

McClendon

May 19, 20118th CircuitDefendant Win

In re Principal U.S. Property Account ERISA Litigation

May 17, 2011S.D. IowaDefendant Win

Bissada

May 12, 20118th CircuitDefendant Win

Solis

Apr 28, 20118th CircuitDefendant Win

National Labor Relations Board v. Whitesell Corp.

Apr 22, 20118th CircuitPlaintiff Win

City of North Little Rock v. Union Pacific Railroad

Apr 21, 2011E.D. Ark.Defendant Win

American Civil Liberties Union v. Tarek Ibn Ziyad Academy

Apr 20, 2011D. Minn.Mixed Result

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Rock Tenn Co.

Mar 31, 2011E.D. Ark.Plaintiff Win

Adams

Mar 28, 2011D. Minn.Defendant Win

Richardson v. Booneville School District

Jan 21, 2011W.D. Ark.Mixed Result

Newport v. United States Department of Labor

Dec 30, 20108th CircuitDefendant Win

Union Electric Company v. James Devine

Nov 17, 20108th CircuitDefendant Win

Osthus

Oct 4, 2010D. Minn.Defendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Con-Way Freight, Inc.

Sep 22, 20108th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Hibbing Taconite Co.

Sep 21, 2010D. Minn.Defendant Win

Brooks

Sep 3, 20108th CircuitDefendant Win

Estrada

Aug 17, 20108th CircuitDefendant Win

Hunter Levi v. United States Dept of Labor

Aug 3, 20108th CircuitDefendant Win

Adam

Jul 15, 20108th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Schwan's Home Service

Jun 30, 2010D. Minn.Plaintiff Win

National Labor Relations Board v. Whitesell Corp.

Jun 25, 20108th CircuitDefendant Win

National Labor Relations Board v. American Directional Boring, Inc.

Jun 24, 20108th CircuitDefendant Win

Pitts

Jun 23, 2010S.D. IowaDefendant Win

DER

Jun 11, 2010D. Minn.Mixed Result

Usery

Jun 7, 20108th CircuitRemanded

Froud

Jun 3, 20108th CircuitDismissed

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Hibbing Taconite Co.

Jun 2, 2010D. Minn.Mixed Result

Norman

Jun 1, 20108th CircuitDefendant Win

Adam Strege v. Deutsche Hypotheken Bank

May 20, 20108th CircuitDismissed

In Re RBC Dain Rauscher Overtime Litigation

Mar 31, 2010D. Minn.Mixed Result

Green

Mar 31, 2010W.D. Mo.Plaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Kelly Services, Inc.

Mar 25, 20108th CircuitDefendant 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.