Nicholas Roumel - Ann Arbor, MI

Nick Roumel is a trial lawyer with over 30 years experience in state and federal courts. He began his career at the Free Legal Aid Clinic in Detroit, helping victims of domestic violence. From there he served the legal needs of Detroit's indigent population at Wayne County Neighborhood Legal Services, until 1989 when he moved to University of Michigan Student Legal Services for 14 years. Since then he has been exclusively in private practice.

Presently Mr. Roumel focuses on plaintiff's employment and civil rights litigation, as well as educational law matters, such as Title IX sex harassment, assault, and retaliation. He is also uniquely suited to represent students in education disputes, drawing on his experience with Student Legal Services and his service on the Ann Arbor School Board from 1994-2000. A former UAW member, Mr. Roumel also has a Union-side practice, representing trades workers to professional educators.

Mr. Roumel has represented numerous high profile athletes and artists; victims of domestic and sexual violence; and students expelled for exercising constitutional rights. He has been appointed for various matters by courts, to act as a receiver for a corporation, and to mediate other cases. Mr. Roumel has also successfully represented criminal defendants for over 20 years, with an excellent record of obtaining favorable verdicts and dismissals.

Mr. Roumel also has an active appellate practice, winning reversals in matters as diverse as pregnancy discrimination, unemployment compensation, the application of discrimination laws to religious schools, Family Medical Leave Act, False Claims Act retaliation, criminal restitution, and the landlord-tenant security deposit act.

Mr. Roumel has published and presented on matters including the immigration consequences of criminal convictions, disclosure and consequences of criminal records, tort remedies for married and other domestic partners, and educational matters such as bullying, Title IX and teen suicide. He has been quoted, and his cases featured, in local media, Newsweek, the Economist, and ESPN, among others.

Mr. Roumel is a former professor at the University of Michigan, where he taught employment law, and has also been a frequent guest panelist, lecturer, and Moot Court judge at Michigan and other law schools, and has frequently presented to college and high school classes.

Mr. Roumel practices throughout Michigan, including the Traverse City area and the Upper Peninsula. He is also licensed in his home state of Pennsylvania, and is admitted to practice in U.S. Supreme Court.

Mr. Roumel is an avid cook, authoring "May it Please the Palate" for the Legal News throughout Michigan, and has written regularly for Michigan sports blog MGoBlog as “Counterpunt,” and enjoys running and competing in races from 5K’s to marathons.

Representative Cases

• Mr. Roumel has won over 40 trials, including nearly 20 jury trials, with a high verdict of $3,000,000+.
• Winkler v. Marist Fathers, Michigan Supreme Court. Learning disabled student won appeal affirming her right to file disability discrimination suit against private religious school that refused to admit her to their high school. Then after remand from the Supreme Court, the Michigan Court of Appeals held that the Persons With Disabilities Civil Rights Act applies to private religious schools.
• Latowski v. Northwoods, 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. Certified Nursing Assistant won appeal overturning trial court’s dismissal of her pregnancy discrimination claim. Case has been cited over 130 times throughout the U.S., including to the United States Supreme Court for their landmark pregnancy discrimination case of Young v. U.P.S.
• Hurtt v. ISI, 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. Sales employee won appeal overturning trial court’s dismissal of his disability discrimination and FMLA claims.
• Dorchy v. Fifth Third Bank, U.S. District Court, E.D. Michigan. Woman who was fired because reported an incident of domestic violence to the police could bring a whistleblower case against her former employer.
• Crockett v. Complete Fitness, 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. Occupational therapist won appeal reinstating her claim for retaliation after she was fired for blowing the whistle on Medicaid fraud.
• Thomas v. Khrawesh, United States District Court, E.D. Michigan. Former employee of dissolved corporation could pierce corporate veil to collect, from corporation's owner, judgment previously awarded against corporation.
• Gholston v. Wayne County Airport Authority, 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. Victim of tasing and police beating won trial court decision and appeal upholding his right to trial.
• Reed v. S. Bend Nights, Inc., U.S. District Court, E.D. Michigan. Lesbian employee could maintain claim of gender discrimination because she did not conform to traditional female gender stereotypes in terms of her appearance, behavior, or mannerisms at work.
• Meyer v. Oakland Community College, Michigan Court of Appeals. Reinstating College’s Chancellor’s claim that his dismissal violated the Open Meetings Act.
• People v. Sharnowski, Michigan Court of Appeals. Reversing trial court’s award of criminal restitution for conduct that was not charged against the defendant.
• Hovanesian v. Nam, Michigan Court of Appeals. Landlord must pay double damages for failure to comply with security deposit law.
• Clarke v. North Detroit General Hospital, Michigan Court of Appeals. Graduate nurse terminated from employment for failing state licensing examination eligible for unemployment compensation, clarifying standard for “voluntary quit” in unemployment cases.
• Grant v. Detroit Association of Women’s Clubs, Michigan Supreme Court. Apartment caretaker could receive the protections of landlord-tenant law after employment termination. (Counsel at trial and Circuit Court.)Nelson v. Detroit Tigers – US District Court, ED Mich, John Nelson started his 42-year career with the Detroit Tigers as a bat boy in 1979. He worked his way up through the organization and, in 1992, was promoted to visiting clubhouse manager. Nelson was 58 years old when he was fired on Oct. 11, 2021, allegedly based on complaints, though his performance reviews were positive. He raised sufficient evidence of age discrimination to defeat the Tigers’ motion to dismiss his lawsuit, in a March, 2024 opinion by Judge David M. Lawson. The Tigers then agreed to a confidential settlement to avoid trial. The opinion is here: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/michigan/miedce/2:2022cv12822/366053/30/. Also see https://milawyersweekly.com/news/2024/05/15/tigers-strike-out-on-former-employees-age-bias-claim/ and https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/detroit-tigers-settle-ex-clubhouse-managers-age-bias-claims.