Michael Allen

On September 21, 2021, Relman Colfax filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging that the Town of Brookline, New Hampshire, its Planning Board, and its Selectboard discriminated on the basis of familial status, race and national origin—in violation of the Fair Housing Act—when they resisted the development of an 80-unit affordable “workforce housing” development proposed by Brookline Opportunities, LLC. The Town is 93% White, with very small African-American and Latino populations, has a high per household median income, and very few rental units

On May 19, 2021, Relman Colfax filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging that the Town of Natick, Massachusetts, its Planning Board and Historical Commission discriminated on the basis of race, color and national origin—in violation of the Fair Housing Act and the U.S. Constitution—when they delayed and then denied an application by a Black immigrant couple to build condominiums under a recently-enacted zoning bylaw.

This lawsuit, brought on behalf of a blind camping enthusiast, alleges that a Fortune 500 company falsely promised the California Department of Parks and Recreation that it would deliver a public-facing reservations website that was accessible to blind users. 

In this lawsuit, Access Living, an independent living center, challenges the City of Chicago’s failure to provide accessible, affordable housing to people with disabilities under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Fair Housing Act.

In a historic victory for Ashton Whitaker, a transgender student in Wisconsin, the firm secured a landmark Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals decision in 2017 recognizing that Title IX and the Fourteenth Amendment protect transgender students from discrimination at school. The firm obtained an $800,000 settlement in January 2018.

This lawsuit, brought on behalf of an organization and two individuals against HUD challenging its delay of the Small Area Fair Market Rent pilot program, secured a decision allowing poor families in major markets around the country to immediately use rental subsidies to move to higher-opportunity areas.

In 2016, Relman Colfax settled the largest affordable housing accessibility case in the nation’s history, securing an important victory for people with disabilities in Los Angeles and adding at least 4,000 affordable and highly accessible housing units in the city. The firm separately settled with the City's Community Redevelopment Agency in 2017.

After federal court granted summary judgment for the firm’s client, case settled, requiring County to spend nearly $52 million in County funds to develop at least 750 affordable housing units in high-opportunity neighborhoods.