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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

United Steel, Paper & Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial & Service Workers International Union, Local Union 193-G v. PPG Industries, Inc.

May 9, 20147th CircuitMixed Result

Stanley Smith v. Union Pacific Railroad Compan

May 7, 20147th CircuitRemanded

Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad

May 6, 2014INNDMixed Result

Carrie Zepperi-Lomanto v. American Postal Workers Union

May 2, 20147th CircuitDefendant Win

Catherine Conrad v. AM Community Credit Union

Apr 14, 20147th CircuitDefendant Win

Wagener Equities, Incorporated v. Arnold Chapman

Mar 31, 20147th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Heartland Human Services v. National Labor Relations Board

Mar 14, 20147th CircuitDefendant Win

Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division/IBT v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co.

Mar 11, 20147th CircuitMixed Result

Lauren B. v. Baxter International Inc. & Subsidiaries Welfare Benefit Plan for Active Employees

Mar 10, 2014N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Stahly

Mar 3, 2014INNDDefendant Win

Holshouser

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

Jeffrey Harris v. Adame Hasse

Feb 21, 20147th CircuitDismissed

Jeffrey Harris v. Adame Hasse

Feb 21, 20147th CircuitDismissed

American Postal Workers Union, O'Hare Midway "T" Local 7011 v. American Postal Workers Union

Feb 18, 2014N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Teamsters Local Union No. 705 v. Burlington Northern Santa Fe, LLC

Jan 24, 20147th CircuitDefendant Win

Marano

Jan 24, 2014E.D. Wis.Defendant Win

Trustees of Teamsters Union No. 142 Pension Fund v. AJ & S Trucking, Inc.

Jan 21, 2014INNDDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. SVT, LLC

Jan 8, 2014INNDMixed Result

Toshiba Corp. v. Imation Corp.

Dec 31, 2013W.D. Wis.Defendant Win

Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Inc. v. Sebelius

Dec 27, 2013INNDPlaintiff Win

Dawn Adams v. James Adams

Dec 27, 20137th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. MacH Mining, LLC

Dec 20, 20137th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Elena Diadenko v. Mary Folino

Dec 19, 20137th CircuitDefendant Win

Anthimos Gogos v. AMS-Mechanical System, Incorpo

Dec 16, 20137th CircuitRemanded

James Reynolds v. Daniel M. Tangherlini

Dec 12, 20137th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Professional Freezing Services, LLC

Dec 3, 2013N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

NECA-IBEW Rockford Local Union 364 Health & Welfare Fund v. a & a Drug Co.

Nov 25, 20137th CircuitDefendant Win

Union County, Illinois v. Merscorp, Incorporated

Nov 14, 20137th CircuitDefendant Win

Piekarski v. Amedisys Illinois, LLC

Nov 12, 2013N.D. Ill.Dismissed

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Aurora Health Care, Inc.

Nov 5, 2013E.D. Wis.Mixed Result

Titan Tire Corp. of Freeport, Inc. v. United Steel, Paper & Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial & Service Workers International Union

Nov 1, 20137th CircuitDefendant Win

Transport Workers Union of America v. Transport Workers Union of America

Oct 18, 20137th CircuitDefendant Win

Young v. Fortis Plastics, LLC

Sep 24, 2013INNDDefendant Win

Catrambone

Sep 10, 2013N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Rexnord Industries, LLC

Aug 30, 2013E.D. Wis.Defendant Win

Lippert Tile Co. v. International Union of Bricklayers & Allied Craftsmen

Aug 1, 20137th CircuitDefendant Win

National Labor Relations Board v. Teamsters "General" Local Union No. 200

Jul 23, 20137th CircuitDefendant Win

Certco, Inc. v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local Union No. 695

Jul 17, 20137th CircuitDefendant Win

United Food & Commercial Workers Unions & Employers Midwest Health Benefits Fund v. Walgreen Co.

Jul 8, 20137th CircuitDefendant Win

Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen, General Committee of Adjustment v. Union Pacific Railroad

Jun 21, 20137th CircuitDefendant Win

Chicago Teachers Union, Local No. 1 v. Board of Education

Jun 18, 2013N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Johnson v. Trans Union, LLC

Apr 8, 20137th CircuitDefendant Win

David Johnson v. Trans Union LLC

Apr 8, 20137th CircuitDefendant Win

David Johnson v. Trans Union LLC

Apr 8, 20137th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Aurora Health Care Inc.

Mar 20, 2013E.D. Wis.Defendant Win

Donald Tompkins v. Central Laborers' Pension Fun

Mar 13, 20137th CircuitDefendant Win

Dennison v. Mony Life Retirement Income Security Plan for Employees

Mar 6, 20137th CircuitDefendant Win

Reddinger v. Sena Severance Pay Plan

Feb 19, 20137th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Autozone, Inc.

Feb 15, 20137th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen v. Union Pacific Railroad

Feb 13, 20137th CircuitMixed 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.