Relman Colfax filed a lawsuit in federal court with co-counsel Smith & Fawer, LLC against the City of New Orleans, Louisiana on behalf of Stanton Square, LLC, a housing developer. The lawsuit alleges that the Defendants delayed, prevented, and otherwise interfered with Plaintiff’s attempts to construct The Village at English Turn, a multi-family affordable housing apartment complex for working and middle-class individuals and families in the City of New Orleans.
As alleged in the complaint, New Orleans has a profound lack of quality, affordable housing for working and middle-class citizens. The Village, if built, would help alleviate the need for affordable housing, particularly among African Americans, Hispanics, and families with children. Areas like Lower Coast Algiers, where the Village was set to be built, have been deemed by the City as “high opportunity” areas where it is “highly important that zoning laws assist private development of affordable housing to address the overwhelming need.”
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, the complaint alleges that the City Council’s actions have unlawfully discriminated against potential residents on the basis of race and familial status; have a disparate impact on the basis of race and familial status; and perpetuate segregation in violation of the Fair Housing Act.
On July 15, 2026, U.S. District Judge Brandon Long largely denied Defendants’ Motions to Dismiss. He held that Stanton Square had plausibly pled that the City of New Orleans and City Council violated the Fair Housing Act and Louisiana Equal Housing Opportunity Act by preventing The Village from being built as designed in order to prevent racial minorities from living there, and in a way that perpetuates segregation and has a disproportionate impact on minorities. The Court also allowed Stanton Square to proceed with its claim that the City has violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits entities that receive federal funding from engaging in discrimination. The Court dismissed constitutional claims on largely technical grounds. The case is set to proceed to trial.
The Relman Colfax litigation team consists of Yiyang Wu, Reed Colfax, and Ted Olds, with paralegal assistance from Taylor Gaskins, Tess Harmon and Autumn Zhou. Our co-counsel are Randall A. Smith and Reagan R. Wilty of Smith & Fawer, LLC, based in New Orleans.
The motion to dismiss may be found here.