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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

Hastings, Adam v. United States of America

Apr 19, 2024W.D. Wis.Defendant Win

Plumbers & Gasfitters Union Local No 75 Health Fund v. Morris Plumbing LLC

Apr 18, 2024E.D. Wis.Settlement

Earls-Rozelle

Apr 18, 2024N.D. Ill.Dismissed

Nevarez

Apr 11, 2024N.D. Ill.Dismissed

Eaton

Apr 11, 2024N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Royan

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

Stapleton

Apr 2, 2024N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Economic Loss v. Abbott Laboratories

Apr 2, 20247th CircuitDefendant Win

Economic Loss v. Abbott Laboratories

Apr 2, 20247th CircuitDefendant Win

Appleton

Apr 1, 2024INNDDismissed

Parker-Davis

Mar 29, 2024INNDRemanded

Boyd

Mar 29, 2024N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Stingley

Mar 29, 2024N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Johnson v. Bosman Trucking, Inc.

Mar 29, 2024N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Gamberdella

Mar 29, 2024N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Billerud Americas Corporation v. United Steelworkers of America, Local Union No. 2-94

Mar 28, 2024W.D. Wis.Plaintiff Win

Severinghaus

Mar 28, 2024N.D. Ill.Dismissed

Wier

Mar 28, 2024N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Calloway

Mar 28, 2024N.D. Ill.Dismissed

J.E.

Mar 28, 2024N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Fox Valley Laborers' Health and Welfare Fund v. Hugh Henry Construction Inc.

Mar 28, 2024N.D. Ill.Plaintiff Win

Nadeem

Mar 26, 2024N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Lofton

Mar 26, 2024N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

[REDACTED] v. Thomas J. Dart, in his offical capacity as, Cook County Sheriff

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

Burton

Mar 25, 2024N.D. Ill.Dismissed

Placht

Mar 25, 2024N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Vargas

Mar 22, 2024N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Bousquet

Mar 21, 2024E.D. Wis.Dismissed

Williams v. BLH Acquisitions Co., LLC

Mar 20, 2024N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Andreasik

Mar 15, 2024N.D. Ill.Dismissed

Hopkins

Mar 13, 2024N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Correa

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

Posada

Mar 11, 2024N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Osborn

Mar 11, 2024C.D. Ill.Mixed Result

McMahon

Mar 8, 2024N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

Leonard

Mar 6, 2024N.D. Ill.Dismissed

Lohmeier

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

Triblett

Feb 29, 2024E.D. Wis.Defendant Win

POOL

Feb 29, 2024S.D. Ind.Defendant Win

Berry

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

Hoffstead

Feb 27, 2024N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Hensiek

Feb 26, 2024S.D. Ill.Plaintiff Win

Harris

Feb 26, 2024N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Blackstone

Feb 23, 2024N.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Petrus

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

Latipov

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

Zhang

Feb 6, 2024N.D. Ill.Dismissed

Henderson v. Mac's Convenience Store

Feb 1, 2024C.D. Ill.Defendant Win

Bousquet

Jan 29, 2024E.D. Wis.Dismissed

Bradford v. Cook County Sheriff's Office

Jan 24, 2024N.D. Ill.Mixed Result

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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.