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Employment Rulings in the Seventh Circuit

The Seventh Circuit covers the federal courts in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. The rulings below come from the circuit's court of appeals and the federal trial courts within it.

Of the 2,293 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 2,293 published rulings we track in the Seventh Circuit.

Defendant Win
994 (43%)
Plaintiff Win
418 (18%)
Mixed Result
401 (17%)
Dismissed
288 (13%)
Remanded
154 (7%)
Settlement
38 (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 2,252 rulings we could classify by stage were decided.

Appeal
987 (44%)

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
465 (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 465 summary-judgment rulings here, 273 ended the case in the employer’s favor and 191 let the worker’s claims continue; the rest resolved in other ways.

Motion to dismiss
632 (28%)

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

Trial verdict
60 (3%)

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

Settlement / consent decree
35 (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
34 (2%)

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

Other rulings
39 (2%)

Procedural decisions and orders that do not fit the main stages above.

States in This Circuit

Browse rulings from courts in each state the Seventh Circuit covers.

Recent Rulings in the Seventh Circuit

Stieglitz

Sep 3, 2021N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Serir

Aug 25, 2021C.D. Ill.Remanded

MULLINS

Aug 23, 2021S.D. Ind.Defendant Win

Osborne

Aug 23, 2021N.D. Ill.Dismissed

Teamsters Local Union No. 727 Pension Fund v. Capital Parking, L.L.C

Aug 20, 2021N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Hollins

Aug 13, 2021INNDDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. RockAuto, LLC

Aug 9, 2021W.D. Wis.Plaintiff Win

DAVIS

Aug 9, 2021S.D. Ind.Mixed Result

Aleman

Aug 5, 2021N.D. Ill.Remanded

Haugen

Aug 5, 2021N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Mlsna, Mark v. Union Pacific Railroad

Aug 3, 2021W.D. Wis.Plaintiff Win

Employers and Operating Engineers Local 520 Pension Fund v. A & A Companies, Inc.

Aug 2, 2021S.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Employers and Illinois Operative Plasterers and Cement Masons Local 18 Annuity Fund v. H. F. Fritsch & Sons, Inc.

Jul 29, 2021C.D. Ill.Plaintiff Win

COLLINS

Jul 26, 2021S.D. Ind.Mixed Result

NLRB v. Mondelez Global LLC

Jul 21, 20217th CircuitDefendant Win

Sladek

Jul 20, 2021N.D. Ill.Plaintiff Win

Malloy

Jul 20, 2021N.D. Ill.Plaintiff Win

Griffin

Jul 19, 2021INNDPlaintiff Win

International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers, Transportation Division v. Union Pacific Railroad Company

Jul 8, 2021N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Johnson v. Cellco Partnership

Jul 7, 2021N.D. Ill.Plaintiff Win

Mlsna, Mark v. Union Pacific Railroad

Jul 1, 2021W.D. Wis.Plaintiff Win

Danna-Mulick

Jul 1, 2021N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

StarNet Insurance Company v. Adam Ruprecht

Jun 28, 20217th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Wal-Mart Stores East LP

Jun 22, 2021E.D. Wis.Defendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Wal-Mart Stores East LP

Jun 22, 2021E.D. Wis.Mixed Result

Debruler

Jun 22, 2021INNDDefendant Win

Sheldon

Jun 21, 2021C.D. Ill.Plaintiff Win

Mlsna, Mark v. Union Pacific Railroad

Jun 16, 2021W.D. Wis.Remanded

Mlsna, Mark v. Union Pacific Railroad

Jun 15, 2021W.D. Wis.Mixed Result

Haran

Jun 11, 2021N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. HZ Ops Holding, Inc

Jun 9, 2021INNDMixed Result

Hoogenboom

Jun 8, 2021N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Park

Jun 8, 2021C.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Park

Jun 8, 2021C.D. Ill.Defendant Win

BILLINGS

Jun 7, 2021S.D. Ind.Plaintiff Win

Noe

Jun 4, 2021N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Stauffer

Jun 3, 2021S.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Plumbers and Fitters Local Union 101 v. Spengler Plumbing Company, Inc.

Jun 2, 2021S.D. Ill.Plaintiff Win

Adamczyk

Jun 2, 2021S.D. Ill.Dismissed

Moore

May 28, 2021N.D. Ill.Dismissed

Schwartz

May 25, 2021INNDMixed Result

Simon, Sarah v. Cooperative Educational Service Agency 5

May 21, 2021W.D. Wis.Defendant Win

TRUSTEES OF THE SHEET METAL WORKERS LOCAL UNION NO. 20 WELFARE AND BENEFIT FUND v. ROGERS MECHANICAL, INC.

May 20, 2021S.D. Ind.Plaintiff Win

Doxtator

May 19, 2021E.D. Wis.Dismissed

Doxtator

May 19, 2021E.D. Wis.Settlement

Neeck, Connor v. Badger Brothers Moving LLC

May 14, 2021W.D. Wis.Dismissed

Thompson

May 13, 2021N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

BROWN

May 3, 2021S.D. Ind.Remanded

Wilson

Apr 28, 2021N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Mesa Laboratories, Inc. v. Federal Insurance Company

Apr 20, 20217th 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.