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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

Ferguson, Jr. v. U.S. Department of Justice

Oct 6, 2025N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Roofers' Pension Fund v. Langlois Roofing, Inc.

Oct 3, 2025N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Erickson

Oct 3, 2025C.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Thom

Oct 2, 2025E.D. Wis.Defendant Win

Hurt

Sep 30, 2025N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Morales

Sep 30, 2025N.D. Ill.Dismissed

Service Employees International Union, Local 73 v. Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Sep 30, 2025C.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Kuo

Sep 29, 2025N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

O'Neal

Sep 29, 2025INNDDefendant Win

Swain

Sep 26, 2025N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Hood

Sep 26, 2025E.D. Wis.Mixed Result

Anderson

Sep 26, 2025N.D. Ill.Dismissed

Andrews

Sep 24, 2025N.D. Ill.Dismissed

Dobrov

Sep 24, 2025N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Chic

Sep 23, 2025E.D. Wis.Dismissed

Muzzarelli

Sep 23, 2025C.D. Ill.Mixed Result

National Labor Relation Board v. Laborforce, LLC

Sep 22, 2025N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Offereins

Sep 22, 2025N.D. Ill.Plaintiff Win

Layman

Sep 18, 2025INNDDismissed

Alsayiri

Sep 17, 2025S.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Vaughn

Sep 16, 2025E.D. Wis.Dismissed

HECKE

Sep 16, 2025S.D. Ind.Settlement

Howard

Sep 16, 2025N.D. Ill.Dismissed

Richards

Sep 16, 2025N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Dunn

Sep 15, 2025INNDMixed Result

Walker

Sep 11, 2025N.D. Ill.Dismissed

Teague

Sep 10, 2025C.D. Ill.Settlement

Papadimitriu

Sep 9, 2025S.D. Ill.Dismissed

Blackwell

Sep 9, 2025C.D. Ill.Settlement

Xi

Sep 8, 2025INNDMixed Result

DUAN

Sep 8, 2025S.D. Ind.Defendant Win

Vaughn

Sep 5, 2025E.D. Wis.Dismissed

Vaughn

Sep 5, 2025E.D. Wis.Dismissed

Hammersley

Sep 2, 2025E.D. Wis.Defendant Win

DAVIS

Sep 2, 2025S.D. Ind.Mixed Result

Ramos

Aug 29, 2025N.D. Ill.Dismissed

Hawkins

Aug 29, 2025N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Hawkins

Aug 28, 2025N.D. Ill.Settlement

Miles

Aug 27, 2025N.D. Ill.Settlement

Robinson

Aug 27, 2025N.D. Ill.Dismissed

Wakatani

Aug 27, 2025E.D. Wis.Plaintiff Win

Pletsch

Aug 22, 2025N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

RACHWALSKI

Aug 21, 2025S.D. Ind.Dismissed

Lee v. Dobberstein Law Firm LLC

Aug 21, 2025E.D. Wis.Defendant Win

Davis

Aug 21, 2025S.D. Ill.Dismissed

Porter

Aug 20, 2025C.D. Ill.Dismissed

Musser

Aug 18, 2025S.D. Ill.Dismissed

Golat, Shannon v. Wisconsin State Court System

Aug 18, 2025W.D. Wis.Dismissed

Foster

Aug 14, 2025N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Booker

Aug 14, 2025N.D. Ill.Settlement

Browse Other 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.