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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

Smith v. US Department of Ed

Feb 25, 2020INNDDefendant Win

BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE INDIANA LABORERS WELFARE FUND v. VAN DALSEN

Feb 18, 2020S.D. Ind.Plaintiff Win

TRUSTEES OF THE INDIANA ELECTRICAL WORKERS PENSION TRUST FUND IBEW v. DARNELL, INC.

Feb 13, 2020S.D. Ind.Defendant Win

Gunn

Feb 13, 2020N.D. Ill.Plaintiff Win

Dietrich

Feb 11, 2020N.D. Ill.Settlement

Marquelle Smith v. Herbert Adams

Feb 11, 20207th CircuitDefendant Win

Marquelle Smith v. Herbert Adams

Feb 11, 20207th CircuitDefendant Win

Marquelle Smith v. Herbert Adams

Feb 11, 20207th CircuitDefendant Win

Smith v. Rockwell Automation Inc

Feb 10, 2020E.D. Wis.Dismissed

Charles Curry v. Revolution Laboratories, LLC

Feb 10, 20207th CircuitRemanded

Dennis

Feb 7, 2020N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Williams v. MJC Acquisition, LLC, Matilda Jane, LLC

Feb 6, 2020INNDDefendant Win

Reed

Feb 6, 2020S.D. Ill.Remanded

Central Laborers' Pension, Welfare and Annuity Funds v. Groundworks Contracting, Inc.

Feb 6, 2020S.D. Ill.Remanded

Jones

Feb 5, 2020INNDMixed Result

TURENTINE

Feb 4, 2020S.D. Ind.Plaintiff Win

Weatherall

Jan 31, 2020E.D. Wis.Dismissed

ADM

Jan 29, 2020S.D. Ill.Dismissed

Teamsters Local Union No. 727 Health and Welfare Fund v. Illinois State Police Master Sergeant

Jan 29, 2020N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Winkfield

Jan 24, 2020N.D. Ill.Remanded

Johnson v. Diakon Logistics

Jan 23, 2020N.D. Ill.Plaintiff Win

Berrios

Jan 21, 2020N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Laborers' Pension Fund v. Midwest Brickpaving, Inc.

Jan 17, 2020N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Walmart Stores East, L.P.

Jan 16, 2020W.D. Wis.Defendant Win

Trustees of the NECA-IBEW Pension Benefit Trust Fund v. Marion Fire Sprinkler and Alarm, Inc.

Jan 15, 2020S.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Central Laborers' Pension, Welfare and Annuity Funds v. Wyandotte Corp.

Jan 13, 2020S.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Wisconsin Laborers Pension Fund v. The Bristol Group, LLC

Jan 10, 2020W.D. Wis.Plaintiff Win

Howell

Jan 10, 2020S.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Holtz

Jan 8, 2020E.D. Wis.Dismissed

Mullens, Chad v. Adams County Government

Jan 6, 2020W.D. Wis.Defendant Win

Chicago Teachers Union, Local 1 American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO v. Board Of Education City Of Chicago

Jan 3, 2020N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Holtz

Dec 18, 2019E.D. Wis.Defendant Win

University of Chicago v. NLRB

Dec 17, 20197th CircuitDefendant Win

University of Chicago v. NLRB

Dec 17, 20197th CircuitDefendant Win

Carroll

Dec 16, 2019INNDPlaintiff Win

Jarchow, Adam v. State Bar of Wisconsin

Dec 11, 2019W.D. Wis.Defendant Win

Laborers Pension Fund v. Fuertes Systems Landscaping, Inc.

Dec 9, 2019N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Amy Harnishfeger v. United States

Dec 3, 20197th CircuitMixed Result

MIHUTI

Dec 2, 2019S.D. Ind.Defendant Win

Aviation West Charters, LLC v. Health and Welfare Plan for Employees of Ajinomoto USA, Inc.

Nov 26, 2019N.D. Ill.Remanded

COSTELLO

Nov 22, 2019S.D. Ind.Defendant Win

Martin

Nov 22, 2019N.D. Ill.Remanded

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

Nov 21, 2019N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Williams v. Sam's East Inc

Nov 19, 2019E.D. Wis.Defendant Win

Painters District Council No. 30, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, AFL-CIO v. Rock-It Interiors, Inc.

Nov 19, 2019N.D. Ill.Settlement

Cabak, Allan v. JELD-WEN, Inc.

Nov 15, 2019W.D. Wis.Dismissed

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System

Nov 7, 2019W.D. Wis.Plaintiff Win

Bishop

Oct 28, 2019N.D. Ill.Plaintiff Win

Fox Valley Laborers' Health and Welfare Fund v. Hugh Henry Construction Inc.

Oct 14, 2019N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Armada (Singapore) PTE Limited v. Amcol International Corp.

Oct 10, 2019N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

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.