Skip to main content

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

Bjorkedal

Feb 22, 20088th CircuitDefendant Win

Newton

Feb 22, 20088th CircuitRemanded

Andrea Newton v. Clinical Reference Laboratory

Feb 22, 20088th CircuitRemanded

Franklin

Feb 21, 2008W.D. Mo.Mixed Result

Sharadanant

Feb 13, 2008D.N.D.Plaintiff Win

Adam Moore v. Kurt Indehar

Feb 1, 20088th CircuitRemanded

Rabe

Jan 10, 2008E.D. Mo.Defendant Win

Ladco Properties XVII, L.L.C. v. Jefferson-Pilot Life Insurance

Nov 13, 2007S.D. IowaDefendant Win

Salazar

Oct 22, 2007N.D. IowaMixed Result

Jones

Oct 3, 2007D. Minn.Mixed Result

Schooley

Sep 19, 20078th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Fair v. Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System

Aug 17, 20078th CircuitDefendant Win

Rice

Aug 16, 2007S.D. IowaDefendant Win

Travelers

Aug 15, 20078th CircuitDefendant Win

Travelers Casualty v. IADA Services

Aug 15, 20078th CircuitDefendant Win

Chester Ex Rel. NLRB v. Eichorn Motors, Inc.

Aug 14, 2007D. Minn.Mixed Result

McGinnis

Aug 3, 20078th CircuitDefendant Win

William M. McGinnis v. Union Pacific RR

Aug 3, 20078th CircuitDefendant Win

EEOC v. Convergys Customer

Jul 6, 20078th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Great Plains Trust Co. v. Union Pacific Railroad

Jun 29, 20078th CircuitDefendant Win

Great Plains Trust v. Union Pacific RR

Jun 29, 20078th CircuitDefendant Win

Helen Adaeze Obah v. Alberto Gonzales

Jun 20, 20078th CircuitDefendant Win

Brooks

Jun 13, 20078th CircuitDefendant Win

Darrell L. Smeltzer v. Medtox Laboratories

Jun 13, 20078th CircuitDefendant Win

Patricia Brooks v. Laboratory Corp.

Jun 13, 20078th CircuitDefendant Win

Bradford v. Union Pacific Railroad

Jun 7, 2007W.D. Ark.Dismissed

Meuir v. Greene County Jail Employees

Jun 6, 20078th CircuitDefendant Win

Meuir v. Greene County Jail Employees

Jun 6, 20078th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Restaurant Co.

May 31, 2007D. Minn.Mixed Result

Pam Huber v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Equal Employment Advisory Council National Chamber Litigation Center, Amici on Behalf Of

May 30, 20078th CircuitDefendant Win

Leavy

May 24, 2007N.D. IowaDefendant Win

United Steel, Paper & Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial & Service Workers International Union v. Carlisle Power Transmission Products, Inc.

May 22, 2007D. Minn.Plaintiff Win

Kassa

May 8, 2007D. Minn.Defendant Win

Faust

May 3, 2007S.D. IowaDismissed

Lisa Vajdl v. Mesabi Academy of Kidspeace, Inc. Kidspeace Corporation Michael Muehlberg, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Amicus on Behalf Of

Apr 25, 20078th CircuitDefendant Win

Parada

Apr 11, 2007N.D. IowaMixed Result

United Transportation Union v. Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad

Mar 30, 2007D.S.D.Mixed Result

David A. Smith v. Union Carbide Corp.

Mar 26, 20078th CircuitDefendant Win

Progress Rail Services Corp. v. Western Heritage Credit Union

Mar 26, 2007D. Neb.Mixed Result

Standridge v. Union Pacific Railroad

Mar 15, 20078th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Louella Rollins v. Woodmen of the World Life Insurance Society, And/or Omaha Woodmen Life Insurance Society

Mar 9, 20078th CircuitDefendant Win

EEOC v. Woodmen of the World

Mar 9, 20078th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Feb 13, 20078th CircuitPlaintiff Win

EEOC v. Wal-Mart Stores

Feb 13, 20078th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Crossett Paper Mills Employees Federal Credit Union v. Cumis Insurance Society, Inc.

Feb 8, 20078th CircuitDefendant Win

Reed

Feb 8, 2007N.D. IowaDefendant Win

Dede Smith v. United Television, Inc. Special Severance Plan

Feb 2, 20078th CircuitDefendant Win

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local Union No. 124 v. Smart Cabling Solutions, Inc.

Feb 1, 20078th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Travelers Property Casualty Co. of America v. Saint-Gobain Technical Fabrics Canada Ltd.

Jan 31, 2007D. Minn.Defendant Win

Timothy Nelson v. Dorn Shuffman Diane McFarland Karen Adams Alan Blake Martha Bellew-Smith Linda Meade

Jan 25, 20078th CircuitMixed Result

Showing 9511,000 of 1,462 rulings · Page 20 of 30

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.