Skip to main content

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

Meyer

Oct 9, 2019C.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Perkins

Oct 8, 2019N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Alton

Oct 3, 2019N.D. Ill.Plaintiff Win

Mansell Sr. v. Memorial Medical Center

Oct 1, 2019C.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Antlitz

Sep 30, 2019N.D. Ill.Dismissed

Harris

Sep 30, 2019N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Torzewski

Sep 27, 2019N.D. Ill.Remanded

Watkins

Sep 26, 2019S.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Jackson v. Boars Nest Bar and Grill, Inc.

Sep 25, 2019C.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Stork

Sep 23, 2019S.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Laborers' Pension Fund v. ABN Building Maintenance

Sep 23, 2019N.D. Ill.Plaintiff Win

Maurice Buford v. Laborers' International Union

Sep 20, 20197th CircuitDefendant Win

Maurice Buford v. Laborers' International Union

Sep 20, 20197th CircuitDefendant Win

Maurice Buford v. Laborers' International Union

Sep 20, 20197th CircuitDefendant Win

Maurice Buford v. Laborers' International Union

Sep 20, 20197th CircuitDefendant Win

Hickey

Sep 17, 2019C.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Donaldson

Sep 17, 2019C.D. Ill.Mixed Result

YANANTA

Sep 16, 2019S.D. Ind.Plaintiff Win

Young

Sep 11, 2019N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Jordan

Sep 9, 2019N.D. Ill.Plaintiff Win

Downing

Sep 5, 2019N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

International Union of Operating Engineers, AFL-CIO v. Landscape Consultants, Inc.

Aug 30, 2019N.D. Ill.Plaintiff Win

Sharma

Aug 26, 2019N.D. Ill.Dismissed

Mlsna, Mark v. Union Pacific Railroad

Aug 23, 2019W.D. Wis.Defendant Win

Hood, Jacqueline v. Exact Science Laboratories, LLC

Aug 22, 2019W.D. Wis.Defendant Win

Jurijus Kadamovas v. John Caraway

Aug 20, 20197th CircuitDefendant Win

Jurijus Kadamovas v. John Caraway

Aug 20, 20197th CircuitDefendant Win

Jurijus Kadamovas v. John Caraway

Aug 20, 20197th CircuitDefendant Win

Maglajlic

Aug 19, 2019INNDSettlement

Flack, Cody v. Wisconsin Department of Health Services

Aug 16, 2019W.D. Wis.Defendant Win

Brubaker

Aug 15, 2019N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Sandefur

Aug 15, 2019N.D. Ill.Dismissed

Local 702, Int'l Bhd. of Elec. Workers v. Nat'l Labor Relations Bd.

Aug 9, 20197th CircuitDefendant Win

Local 702, International Brot v. NLRB

Aug 9, 20197th CircuitDefendant Win

Local 702, International Brot v. NLRB

Aug 9, 20197th CircuitDefendant Win

Laborers' Pension Fund v. ABN Building Maintenance

Aug 7, 2019N.D. Ill.Plaintiff Win

Naqvi

Aug 6, 2019C.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Labor One, Inc. v. Staff Management Solutions, LLC, et l

Aug 5, 2019N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Driven Fence, Inc.

Aug 2, 2019N.D. Ill.Plaintiff Win

Prince

Jul 30, 2019N.D. Ill.Remanded

Adams

Jul 23, 2019N.D. Ill.Plaintiff Win

Monroe

Jul 19, 2019E.D. Wis.Dismissed

Matthew Carello v. Aurora Policeman Credit Union

Jul 15, 20197th CircuitDefendant Win

Adams

Jul 15, 2019N.D. Ill.Plaintiff Win

Haworth

Jul 15, 2019N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Matthew Carello v. Aurora Policeman Credit Union

Jul 15, 20197th CircuitDefendant Win

Craig

Jul 11, 2019N.D. Ill.Dismissed

Beverly

Jul 10, 2019N.D. Ill.Dismissed

Chicago Area I.B. of T. Health and Welfare Trust Fund v. Olympic Wholesale Produce, Inc.

Jul 9, 2019N.D. Ill.Plaintiff Win

Mayle

Jul 2, 2019N.D. Ill.Settlement

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.