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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

Gecht

Sep 26, 2024N.D. Ill.Remanded

Price

Sep 26, 2024N.D. Ill.Dismissed

Watson

Sep 25, 2024S.D. Ill.Dismissed

Bumpus

Sep 25, 2024N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Campbell

Sep 25, 2024N.D. Ill.Remanded

Huffman

Sep 23, 2024S.D. Ill.Defendant Win

BLACKLEDGE

Sep 20, 2024S.D. Ind.Defendant Win

Evans

Sep 20, 2024N.D. Ill.Dismissed

Montero

Sep 19, 2024E.D. Wis.Mixed Result

O'Malley

Sep 19, 2024N.D. Ill.Dismissed

Fernandez

Sep 17, 2024N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Flores

Sep 16, 2024N.D. Ill.Dismissed

Mitchell v. Exxon Mobil Corp

Sep 13, 2024N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Gawlik

Sep 10, 2024N.D. Ill.Dismissed

Kyle Rayome v. ABT Electronics Inc.

Sep 9, 2024N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Nance

Sep 3, 2024S.D. Ill.Defendant Win

UPCHURCH

Aug 30, 2024S.D. Ind.Mixed Result

LANGE

Aug 30, 2024S.D. Ind.Plaintiff Win

Beck

Aug 30, 2024C.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Baird

Aug 29, 2024INNDDefendant Win

Chosen Consulting LLC v. Town Council of Highland, Indiana

Aug 28, 2024INNDSettlement

Grigsby

Aug 27, 2024N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Wininger

Aug 26, 2024INNDDefendant Win

Wallin

Aug 23, 2024E.D. Wis.Defendant Win

Bass

Aug 22, 2024S.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Chicago Teachers Union, Local 1, IFT-AFT v. Educators for Excellence, Inc.

Aug 21, 2024N.D. Ill.Dismissed

Connectors Realty Group Corporation, The v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Company

Aug 21, 2024N.D. Ill.Dismissed

Acosta

Aug 21, 2024N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Burton

Aug 21, 2024N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Barrett

Aug 20, 2024S.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Central Laborers' Pension Welfare and Annuity Funds v. Soldier Concrete Construction, LLC

Aug 19, 2024S.D. Ill.Plaintiff Win

Rogers v. Roxana Church of the Nazarene

Aug 19, 2024S.D. Ill.Mixed Result

SLOCUM

Aug 16, 2024S.D. Ind.Defendant Win

Hassett

Aug 16, 2024N.D. Ill.Dismissed

Engstrom

Aug 16, 2024N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Sleik

Aug 14, 2024E.D. Wis.Defendant Win

Cross

Aug 14, 2024INNDMixed Result

Luckett

Aug 14, 2024N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Ontiveros

Aug 14, 2024N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Shaw

Aug 13, 2024N.D. Ill.Settlement

Grant, Caleb v. Krolikowski, Daniel

Aug 12, 2024W.D. Wis.Dismissed

Johnson v. Northeastern Illinois University

Aug 12, 2024N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

C.W.

Aug 8, 2024N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Prokhorov

Aug 7, 2024N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

TRUSTEES OF THE INDIANA TEAMSTERS HEALTH BENEFITS PLAN v. INDY DIRT WERKS, LLC

Aug 6, 2024S.D. Ind.Remanded

MID CENTRAL OPERATING ENGINEERS HEALTH AND WELFARE FUND v. HOOSIERVAC LLC

Aug 5, 2024S.D. Ind.Dismissed

Cooley

Aug 5, 2024N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Hicks

Jul 30, 2024N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

ESQUE

Jul 29, 2024S.D. Ind.Remanded

CIRCLE CITY BROADCASTING I, LLC v. DISH NETWORK, LLC

Jul 23, 2024S.D. Ind.Defendant 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.