Featured Cases
On January 7, 2022, Relman Colfax and co-counsel the National Student Legal Defense Network filed a class action lawsuit in federal court against Walden University, a for-profit university that solely offers online degree programs. This lawsuit, brought under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, alleges that Walden engaged in “reverse redlining” by intentionally targeting Black and female students for what appears to be a cost- and time-effective online degree program, but ultimately amounts to an expensive predatory scheme.
On October 6, 2021, Relman Colfax filed a lawsuit in Indiana federal court alleging that Old National Bank engaged in lending discrimination in Indianapolis in violation of the Fair Housing Act.
This lawsuit, brought on behalf of Amber Reineck House, its founder and President, Courtney Atsalakis, and the Fair Housing Center of Southeast & Mid Michigan, alleges that the City of Howell and its employees discriminated against people with disabilities by engaging in a concerted effort to prevent Amber Reineck House from opening a sober living home for women.
This lawsuit, brought under the Fair Housing Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504, and state law, challenged the Dallas Housing Authority’s cancellation of project-based housing subsidies that would have permitted adults with disabilities to live in integrated homes in the community.
In this Fair Housing Act lawsuit against a Virginia landlord, which challenged a racially discriminatory policy of rejecting all applicants with criminal backgrounds, the defendant agreed to adopt a new policy to ensure equal access to its properties.
Relman Colfax represents plaintiffs in this class action lawsuit against an Indianapolis realty company for operating a predatory and discriminatory rent-to-own scheme in the Indianapolis area.
In this groundbreaking lawsuit, Relman Colfax challenged Santander Bank's poor record of mortgage lending in minority neighborhoods in Providence, Rhode Island.
In 2013, in the first reverse redlining case filed against a for-profit school in the country for engaging in deceptive practices to encourage low-income African-American students to take out large federal student loans for an education that the school knew was inadequate, the firm obtained a $5 million settlement for a class of over 4,000 members.
This First Amendment and race discrimination case challenged a county government’s dismissal of three doctors who were outspoken opponents of budget cuts that impacted a public hospital serving the predominantly African-American population on the south side of Chicago.
Publications
J. Relman, G. Schlactus, and S. Goel, "Creating and Protecting Pro-Integration Programs Under the Fair Housing Act," in The Integration Debate: Competing Futures for American Cities (2009)
B. Blower, J. Silver, J. Richardson, G. Schlactus, S. Markano-Stark, "Adding Robust Consideration Of Race To Community Reinvestment Act Regulations: An Essential And Constitutional Proposal," in National Community Reinvestment Coalition (2021)
In the Media
Education
J.D., Georgetown University Law Center, cum laude
B.A., Georgetown University
Admissions
- California
District of Columbia
Clerkships
- Hon. Patricia M. Wald, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit