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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

Rebecca Hill v. Service Employees Internationa

Mar 9, 20177th CircuitDefendant Win

Sweatt

Mar 6, 20177th CircuitDefendant Win

Ronald Sweatt v. Union Pacific Railroad Compan

Mar 6, 20177th CircuitDefendant Win

Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen v. Union Pacific Railroad

Feb 17, 2017N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Columbia College Chicago v. National Labor Relations Board

Feb 2, 20177th CircuitMixed Result

NLRB v. Columbia College Chicago

Feb 2, 20177th CircuitMixed Result

Dana Container, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor

Feb 1, 20177th CircuitDefendant Win

Dana Container, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor

Feb 1, 20177th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Flambeau, Inc.

Jan 25, 20177th CircuitDefendant Win

Indiana Civil Liberties Union Foundation, Inc. v. Indiana Secretary of State

Jan 19, 2017S.D. Ind.Plaintiff Win

Janada Garner v. Executive Management Services

Jan 13, 20177th CircuitDefendant Win

John Marshall Law School v. National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh

Dec 26, 2016N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Teamsters Local Union No. 727 Health & Welfare Fund v. L & R Group of Companies

Dec 21, 20167th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Jack A. Sheets v. Interra Credit Union

Dec 19, 20167th CircuitDefendant Win

Air Serv Corp. v. Service Employees International Union, Local 1

Dec 2, 2016N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 2150 v. Nextera Energy Point Beach LLC

Nov 30, 2016E.D. Wis.Plaintiff Win

Lend Lease (US) Construction Inc. v. Administrative Employer Services, Inc.

Oct 20, 20167th CircuitDefendant Win

Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada v. U.S. Bank National Ass'n

Oct 12, 20167th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Fedex Freight, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Oct 12, 20167th CircuitDefendant Win

NLRB v. FedEx Freight, Inc.

Oct 12, 20167th CircuitMixed Result

Jeffrey Brill v. TransUnion LLC

Oct 4, 20167th CircuitMixed Result

Stewart

Sep 29, 2016N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 139 v. Wingra Stone Co.

Sep 29, 2016W.D. Wis.Plaintiff Win

Adam

Sep 28, 2016N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Porter

Sep 20, 2016N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Orion Energy Systems, Inc.

Sep 19, 2016E.D. Wis.Mixed Result

Schmitz

Aug 22, 20167th CircuitDefendant Win

Rupcich

Aug 17, 20167th CircuitMixed Result

Amglo Kemlite Laboratories, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Aug 17, 20167th CircuitDefendant Win

Citibank, N.A. v. Municipal Employees'

Jul 26, 2016N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Boltinghouse

Jul 20, 2016N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

United States ex rel. Sheet Metal Workers International Ass'n, Local Union 20 v. Horning Investments, LLC

Jul 7, 20167th CircuitDefendant Win

Sidney Hillman Health Center of Rochester v. Abbott Laboratories & AbbVie Inc.

Jun 29, 2016N.D. Ill.Dismissed

William Charles Construction Co. v. Teamsters Local Union 627

Jun 29, 20167th CircuitMixed Result

Board of Trustees of the Automobile Mechanics' Local No. 701 Union & Industry Pension Fund v. Full Circle Group, Inc.

Jun 24, 20167th CircuitRemanded

Calumet River Fleeting, Inc. v. International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 150, AFL-CIO

May 31, 20167th CircuitDefendant Win

Polycon Industries, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

May 9, 20167th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Wisconsin Plastics, Inc.

May 5, 2016E.D. Wis.Plaintiff Win

Laborers' Pension Fund v. W.R. Weis Co.

Apr 15, 2016N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Gary Sgouros v. TransUnion Corporation

Mar 25, 20167th CircuitMixed Result

Martina Beverly v. Abbott Laboratories, Incorpora

Mar 16, 20167th CircuitDefendant Win

Cocker v. Terminal Railroad Ass'n of St. Louis Pension Plan for Nonschedule Employees

Mar 16, 20167th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Aerotek, Inc.

Mar 4, 20167th CircuitMixed Result

Staffing Network Holdings, LLC v. National Labor Relations Board

Mar 2, 20167th CircuitDefendant Win

Staffing Network Holdings, LLC v. NLRB

Mar 2, 20167th CircuitDefendant Win

Contemporary Cars, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Feb 26, 20167th CircuitDefendant Win

Wasiu I. Alade v. Underwriters Laboratories, Inc

Feb 22, 20167th CircuitMixed Result

Central Laborers' Pension Fund v. Demex Group, Inc.

Jan 27, 2016C.D. Ill.Plaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Amsted Rail Co., Inc.

Jan 20, 2016S.D. Ill.Settlement

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Mach Mining, LLC

Jan 19, 2016S.D. Ill.Plaintiff 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.