In August 2022, Relman Colfax settled an historic case challenging the failure of McIntosh County and the State of Georgia to provide equal services to the largest intact Gullah Geechee community in Georgia. Plaintiffs had alleged that Defendants failed to provide adequate water, emergency medical, fire, road maintenance, trash, and accessible ferry services to members of the community.
On January 7, 2022, Relman Colfax and co-counsel filed a class action lawsuit in federal court against Walden University, a for-profit university that offers online degree programs. This lawsuit alleges that Walden engaged in “reverse redlining” by intentionally targeting Black and female students in an expensive predatory scheme.
In February 2022, Relman Colfax settled one of the largest fair housing cases in the nation’s history, securing a significant victory for communities of color that were hit hard by the foreclosure crisis. As a result of the $53 million settlement, tens of millions of dollars will be invested in homeownership promotion, neighborhood stabilization, access to credit, property rehabilitation, and residential development.
In Oct. 2021, Relman Colfax obtained a precedent-setting $5.2 million jury verdict in a case involving the Town of Cromwell’s discrimination against a group home for men with mental health disabilities. Cromwell waged a campaign to prevent Gilead Community Services from operating the home.
In a significant victory in the fight for fair lending, Relman Colfax secured a major jury verdict in a reverse redlining case against New York-based Emigrant Savings Bank and Emigrant Mortgage Company, holding Emigrant accountable for discriminatory mortgage lending practices contributing to the country’s 2008 financial collapse.
