Federal 7th Circuit / Civil
Employment Discrimination
| E.D. Wis.
Thomas v. JBS Green Bay, Inc., No. 24-1404
(November 8, 2024)
(EASTERBROOK)
Reversed and remanded.
Plaintiff filed a lawsuit against his employer under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act alleging that he was discriminated against on account of his race. The district court dismissed the complaint for failure to state a claim on which relief may be granted. The Seventh Circuit reversed and remanded, finding that the complaint was dismissed prematurely based on a lack of evidence but that the question of the sufficiency of the evidence is more appropriate at summary judgment or trial and not the pleadings stage of proceedings. (JACKSON-AKIWUMI and MALDONADO, concurring)
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Federal 7th Circuit / Civil
Appellate Jurisdiction
| S.D. Ind., Evansville Div.
Acevedo v. Professional Transportation, Inc., No. 23-2813
(October 31, 2024)
(EASTERBROOK)
Appeal dismissed.
In a collective action brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Seventh Circuit dismissed the appeal, explaining that the appellate court had no jurisdiction because the appeal was brought by non-parties. The appellate court noted that the Act requires that each plaintiff in a collective action to consent in writing to join the suit and file the consent in the court in which the action was brought, but that the “named plaintiffs” in the appeal did not satisfy either of those requirements because they had entered their consent in a separate lawsuit. (ROVNER and JACKSON-AKIWUMI, concurring)
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Federal 7th Circuit / Civil
Civil Procedure
| S.D. Ill.
Brockett v. Effingham County, Illinois, No. 23-2360
(August 29, 2024)
(ROVNER)
Affirmed.
Plaintiff, a former county sheriff’s department employee, filed a lawsuit alleging that he was fired for supporting the former sheriff in disputes between the sheriff and the county chair, and for reporting misbehavior by two correctional officers under his supervision. The district court dismissed the lawsuit and plaintiff appealed. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, finding that plaintiff’s argument failed to demonstrate that he was entitled to relief and, as a result, his claims were waived. (BRENNAN and KIRSCH, concurring)
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Federal 7th Circuit / Civil
Election Law
| N.D. Ill., Eastern Div.
Bost v. Illinois State Board of Elections, No. 23-2644
(August 21, 2024)
(LEE)
Affirmed.
Plaintiffs, a group of Illinois voters and political candidates, filed a lawsuit challenging the provision of Illinois law that allows voters to cast their votes by mail and for election officials to receive and count these ballots for up to two weeks after the date of the election so long as they are postmarked or certified by the date of the election. Plaintiffs argued that the law impermissibly expands the time in which residents can vote. The district court found that plaintiffs lacked standing and dismissed the complaint. Plaintiffs appealed and the Seventh Circuit affirmed, finding that the plaintiffs lacked standing because they did not allege an adequate injury. (BRENNAN, concurring, and SCUDDER, concurring in part and dissenting in part)
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Federal 7th Circuit / Civil
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
| W.D. Wis.
Vanegas v. Signet Builders, Inc., No. 23-2964
(August 16, 2024)
(ST. EVE)
Reversed and remanded.
In a successive appeal in a matter where an employee filed a lawsuit against his employer under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Seventh Circuit considered two issues: 1) do FLSA collective actions require personal jurisdiction only over their representative plaintiffs, and 2) does FRCP 4 create a “backdoor” way to exercise nationwide personal jurisdiction in FLSA cases. The Seventh Circuit answered both questions in the negative, finding that a court overseeing a collective action must secure personal jurisdiction over each plaintiff’s claim, whether representative or opt-in, individually. (PRYOR, concurring and ROVNER, dissenting)
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