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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

Randy Erven v. Blandin Paper Company, a Minnesota Corporation Blandin Paper Company Employees' Retirement Plan

Jan 22, 20078th CircuitMixed Result

Willie Gordon v. Shafer Contracting Co., Inc., Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Amicus on Behalf Of

Dec 6, 20068th CircuitDefendant Win

OH Casualty Ins. Co. v. Union Pacific RR

Dec 4, 20068th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Appellee/cross-Appellant v. Dial Corporation, Appellant/cross-Appellee

Nov 17, 20068th CircuitMixed Result

EEOC v. Dial Corporation

Nov 17, 20068th CircuitPlaintiff Win

CP Holdings, Inc. v. California Public Employees Retirement System

Nov 7, 20068th CircuitDefendant Win

EEOC v. Allstate Ins. Co.

Oct 19, 2006E.D. Mo.Plaintiff Win

Peters

Oct 5, 2006W.D. Mo.Remanded

Kutilek

Sep 29, 2006E.D. Mo.Dismissed

Paris

Sep 28, 2006E.D. Ark.Mixed Result

Connolly

Sep 21, 2006E.D. Mo.Remanded

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Trans States Airlines, Inc.

Sep 19, 20068th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Trans States Airlines

Sep 19, 20068th CircuitDefendant Win

Martinez-Bautista

Aug 25, 2006E.D. Ark.Plaintiff Win

CIR

Aug 23, 20068th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Marcie Guerrero v. J.W. Hutton, Inc.

Aug 21, 20068th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Restaurant Co.

Aug 18, 2006D. Minn.Mixed Result

Olberding

Aug 7, 2006W.D. Mo.Defendant Win

Allianz Insurance Company Of Canada v. Richard Sanftleben

Jul 21, 20068th CircuitDefendant Win

In re Aquila Erisa Litigation

Jul 18, 2006W.D. Mo.Plaintiff Win

Cole

Jul 11, 2006S.D. IowaDismissed

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Von Maur, Inc.

Jul 10, 2006S.D. IowaMixed Result

The Star Tribune Company v. Minnesota Newspaper Guild Typographical Union

Jun 12, 20068th CircuitDefendant Win

Niemiec v. Union Pacific Railroad Company

Jun 7, 20068th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Jeffrey J. Niemiec v. Union Pacific RR

Jun 7, 20068th CircuitDefendant Win

United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Technocrest Systems, Inc.

May 26, 20068th CircuitMixed Result

United Food and Commercial Workers' Union Local No. 655 v. St. John's Mercy Health Systems, Doing Business as St. John's Mercy Medical Center

May 24, 20068th CircuitDefendant Win

McCullough

May 11, 2006E.D. Ark.Remanded

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Independent School District No. 834

Apr 28, 2006D. Minn.Plaintiff Win

Kelly Norberg v. Labor Ready

Apr 25, 20068th CircuitDefendant Win

Conwed Corp. v. Union Carbide Corp.

Apr 18, 20068th CircuitMixed Result

Employer Trustees of Graphic Communications International Union, Local 1-B Health & Welfare Fund v. Union Trustees of the Graphic Communications International Union, Local 1-B Health & Welfare Fund

Apr 14, 2006D. Minn.Mixed Result

Local 447 of the International Union of Painters & Allied Trades v. Five Seasons Paint & Drywall, Inc.

Apr 3, 2006S.D. IowaMixed Result

Carroll v. National Postal Mail Handlers Union

Mar 31, 20068th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. UMB Bank, N.A.

Mar 17, 2006W.D. Mo.Settlement

Seibert

Mar 14, 2006D. Minn.Mixed Result

Gretillat

Feb 13, 2006N.D. IowaDefendant Win

Stricker v. Union Planters Bank

Feb 3, 20068th CircuitDefendant Win

St. John's Mercy Health Systems, Doing Business as St. John's Mercy Medical Center v. National Labor Relations Board

Feb 1, 20068th CircuitDefendant Win

St. John's Mercy v. NLRB

Feb 1, 20068th CircuitDefendant Win

Underwood

Jan 26, 2006S.D. IowaDefendant Win

BERINI

Jan 19, 2006E.D. Mo.Defendant Win

James Seitz v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Merck & Co., Inc., Medical, Dental, and Long-Term Disability Program for Non-Union Employees

Jan 10, 20068th CircuitPlaintiff Win

United States Fidelity & Guarantee Insurance Company v. Commercial Union Midwest Insurance Company

Dec 7, 20058th CircuitRemanded

United States Fidelity & Guarantee Insurance v. Commercial Union Midwest Insurance

Dec 7, 20058th CircuitRemanded

Bently

Nov 23, 2005D. Neb.Mixed Result

A & L Laboratories, Inc. v. Bou-Matic LLC

Nov 17, 20058th CircuitDefendant Win

A&L Laboratories v. Bou-Matic LLC

Nov 17, 20058th CircuitDefendant Win

McAninch

Nov 8, 2005S.D. IowaDefendant Win

Barnhart

Nov 7, 2005S.D. IowaRemanded

Showing 1,0011,050 of 1,462 rulings · Page 21 of 30

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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.