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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

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. AutoZone, Inc.

Jan 4, 20167th CircuitDefendant Win

EEOC v. AutoZone, Incorporated

Jan 4, 20167th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Flambeau, Inc.

Dec 30, 2015W.D. Wis.Defendant Win

Carmen Carothers v. County of Cook

Dec 21, 20157th CircuitDefendant Win

Big Ridge, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Dec 18, 20157th CircuitDefendant Win

Boogaard v. National Hockey League

Dec 18, 2015N.D. Ill.Dismissed

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. CVS Pharmacy, Inc.

Dec 17, 20157th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Northern Star Hospitality

Dec 17, 2015W.D. Wis.Plaintiff Win

House v. Illinois Bell Telephone Co.

Dec 1, 2015N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Schneider v. Cornerstone Pints, Inc.

Dec 1, 2015N.D. Ill.Plaintiff Win

Keith Curtis v. Costco Wholesale Corporation

Nov 24, 20157th CircuitDefendant Win

Smith v. Chicago Transit Authority

Nov 23, 20157th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Orion Energy Systems Inc.

Nov 12, 2015E.D. Wis.Mixed Result

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. AutoZone, Inc.

Nov 4, 2015N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

LuzMaria Arroyo v. Volvo Group North America, LLC

Oct 6, 20157th CircuitRemanded

Caterpillar Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Oct 2, 20157th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Pisut

Sep 29, 2015N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Afram Boutros v. Avis Rent A Car System, LLC

Sep 23, 20157th CircuitDefendant Win

Autonation, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Sep 4, 20157th CircuitMixed Result

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

Sep 4, 2015N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Chontel Miller v. Polaris Laboratories LLC

Aug 13, 20157th CircuitRemanded

Chicago Teachers Union, Local v. Board of Education of the City

Aug 7, 20157th CircuitDefendant Win

Ronald Sweatt v. Union Pacific Railroad Co

Aug 6, 20157th CircuitDefendant Win

Frank Burks v. Union Pacific Railroad Compan

Jul 13, 20157th CircuitDefendant Win

Ho

Jul 8, 20157th CircuitDefendant Win

White

Jun 22, 2015N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Chicago Teachers Union, Local 1 v. Board of Education

May 22, 2015N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Orr Ex Rel. Orr v. Assurant Employee Benefits

May 19, 20157th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Trinity Health Corp.

May 11, 2015INNDPlaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Union Pacific Railroad

May 1, 2015E.D. Wis.Plaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Rosebud Restaurants, Inc.

Apr 7, 2015N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

McDonough

Mar 20, 2015W.D. Wis.Defendant Win

Illinois Central Railroad v. Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees, Division of International Brotherhood of Teamsters

Feb 5, 2015N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Northern Star Hospitality, Inc.

Jan 29, 20157th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Wedeward

Dec 12, 20147th CircuitDefendant Win

LifeSource

Dec 2, 20147th CircuitRemanded

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. CVS Pharmacy, Inc.

Oct 7, 2014N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Rupcich

Sep 29, 2014N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Staffmark Investment LLC

Sep 4, 2014N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Board of Trustees of the Automobile Mechanics' Local No. 701 Union & Industry Pension Fund v. Joyce Ford, Inc.

Sep 4, 2014N.D. Ill.Plaintiff Win

Moore

Aug 27, 2014N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Schane v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters Union Local No. 710 Pension Fund Pension Plan

Jul 23, 20147th CircuitDefendant Win

Johnson v. Meriter Health Services Employee Retirement Plan

Jul 3, 2014W.D. Wis.Defendant Win

Big Ridge, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Jul 2, 20147th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Big Ridge, Incorporated v. NLRB

Jul 2, 20147th CircuitPlaintiff Win

National Labor Relations Board v. HH3 Trucking, Inc.

Jun 13, 20147th CircuitDefendant Win

Smith v. Union Pacific Railroad

Jun 11, 20147th CircuitRemanded

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. U.S. Dry Cleaning Services Corp.

Jun 4, 2014S.D. Ind.Mixed Result

Jones

Jun 4, 20147th CircuitDefendant Win

Chicago Teachers Union, Local 1 v. Board of Education of the City of Chicago

May 27, 2014N.D. Ill.Defendant 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.