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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 States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc.

May 17, 2000C.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Penn

May 3, 2000INNDDefendant Win

Jays Foods, L.L.C. v. Chemical & Allied Product Workers Union, Local 20, Afl-Cio

Apr 28, 20007th CircuitDefendant Win

Connecticut General Life Insurance v. Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada

Apr 27, 20007th CircuitRemanded

Crabill

Apr 17, 2000C.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Jet Star, Inc., Petitioner/cross-Respondent v. National Labor Relations Board, Respondent/cross-Petitioner

Apr 4, 20007th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Jet Star, Inc. v. NLRB

Apr 4, 20007th CircuitMixed Result

Zeman

Mar 30, 2000E.D. Wis.Plaintiff Win

Cast North America (Trucking) Limited, Petitioner/cross-Respondent v. National Labor Relations Board, Respondent/cross-Petitioner

Mar 29, 20007th CircuitDefendant Win

Cast North America v. NLRB

Mar 29, 20007th CircuitDefendant Win

Alexis M. Hermon Secretary of Labor v. Local 1011, United Steelworkers of America, Afl-Cio, Clc

Mar 23, 20007th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Moriarty Ex Rel. Union No. 727 v. Hills Funeral

Mar 21, 2000N.D. Ill.Plaintiff Win

National Labor Relations Board v. Somerville 1 Construction Company

Mar 8, 20007th CircuitDefendant Win

NLRB v. Somerville Construct

Mar 8, 20007th CircuitDefendant Win

Empress Casino Joliet Corp. v. National Labor Relations Board

Feb 24, 20007th CircuitDefendant Win

Independent Lift Truck Builders Union, Plaintiff-Appellee/cross-Appellant v. Nacco Materials Handling Group, Inc., Defendant-Appellant/cross-Appellee

Jan 27, 20007th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Medcom Holding Company, Cross-Appellee v. Baxter Travenol Laboratories, Inc., and Medtrain, Inc.

Jan 12, 20007th CircuitMixed Result

Fuller

Jan 11, 2000C.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Mead Johnson & Company v. Abbott Laboratories

Jan 5, 20007th CircuitRemanded

Herman

Sep 15, 1999C.D. Ill.Defendant Win

United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Rockwell International Corp.

Aug 13, 1999N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Humiston-Keeling, Inc.

Jul 6, 1999N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Hite

Jun 23, 1999INNDDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Michelin North America, Inc.

Apr 30, 1999N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. TruGreen Ltd. Partnership

Mar 24, 1999W.D. Wis.Defendant Win

James Papa v. Katy Industries, Inc. And Walsh Press Company, Inc., Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Gjhsrt, Inc.

Mar 18, 19997th CircuitMixed Result

EEOC v. Rockwell International Corp.

Feb 25, 1999N.D. Ill.Plaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Synchro-Start Products, Inc.

Jan 20, 1999N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Ruppel

Jan 19, 1999C.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Fall

Dec 30, 1998INNDMixed Result

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. TruGreen Limited Partnership

Dec 29, 1998W.D. Wis.Plaintiff Win

Albert C. McNAB, Et Al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, Defendant-Appellee

Dec 11, 19987th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. North Knox School Corporation and Board of School Trustees for the North Knox School Corporation

Nov 23, 19987th CircuitDefendant Win

22 Employee Benefits Cas. 1941, Pens. Plan Guide (Cch) P 23,950f Robert Blue v. Ual Corporation

Nov 10, 19987th CircuitDefendant Win

United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Rockwell International Corp.

Oct 15, 1998N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Peter D. COLLINS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. RALSTON PURINA COMPANY and Golden Cat Corporation, Defendants-Appellees

Aug 17, 19987th CircuitDefendant Win

Haga

Jul 22, 1998C.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. General Electric Co.

Jul 21, 1998INNDDefendant Win

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Illinois Department of Employment Security

Jun 2, 1998N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. St. Michael Hospital of Franciscan Sisters, Milwaukee, Inc.

Mar 31, 1998E.D. Wis.Mixed Result

Spratt

Mar 17, 1998INNDDefendant Win

Coleman

Feb 5, 1998INNDDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing of America, Inc.

Jan 20, 1998C.D. Ill.Settlement

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and Darlene Walters, Intervening v. Metropolitan Educational Enterprises, Incorporated, and Leonard Bieber

Mar 31, 19977th CircuitRemanded

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Ilona of Hungary, Incorporated

Mar 6, 19977th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Kriskovic

Dec 17, 1996E.D. Wis.Defendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing of America, Inc.

Nov 27, 19967th CircuitRemanded

Garland F. DAILL, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. SHEET METAL WORKERS’ LOCAL 73 PENSION FUND, Defendant-Appellant

Nov 13, 19967th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Ilona of Hungary, Incorporated

Oct 2, 19967th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Cna Insurance Companies, Continental Casualty Company, and Continental Assurance Company

Sep 27, 19967th CircuitDefendant Win

Browse Other 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.