Long Island couple, in lawsuit, alleges Queens real estate saleswoman inadvertently texted them racially discriminatory note when showing apartment

A couple now living in Commack alleged in a civil lawsuit this week that a Flushing real estate salesperson racially discriminated against them when they went there to look at a home for rent. 

According to the suit, the couple was about to view the home on June 20 when they received a text from the salesperson that she'd apparently intended for one of the unit's owners: "Ugh, they're Black." 

The salesperson later explained to the couple that she had made the comment because of previous problems in the home and neighborhood involving Black people, according to the suit. 

Filed this week in Queens County Supreme Court on behalf of Lisa Olaso and Cyril Christopher, the suit alleges violations to the Federal Fair Housing Act and New York State and New York City human rights laws. It names as defendants salesperson Helen Tzelios and her former brokerage, Douglas Elliman. It also names as defendants owners of the unit that was for rent. It demands compensatory and punitive damages.

In a phone interview, Christopher said he was at first baffled to see his fiancée crying, then felt shocked as he realized the reason. "It rocked me to the core," he said. "I had never faced racism like this before." Olaso said the couple were now "extremely happy" on Long Island. "Commack is a great little hamlet," she said. "It restored a lot of my faith in New Yorkers."

A representative for Douglas Elliman said Friday that it had parted ways with Tzelios on Thursday after it learned of the allegations. "Douglas Elliman has a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination of any kind," Stephen Larkin wrote in an email. "The agent is no longer with the company." Larkin said that Tzelios had worked with the brokerage as an independent contractor and that her real estate license had been disassociated from the brokerage.

A representative for New York's Department of State, which oversees licensing for real estate salespeople and brokers, said in an email that Tzelios was licensed but not associated to any firms. "Accordingly, she is not currently permitted to work without a sponsoring broker," the representative said. 

The state representative also wrote that if, after a “comprehensive review of the underlying facts,” the Department made a finding that a licensed individual violated fair housing laws, it could result in loss of licensure, suspension, or fines. Asked if that review was ongoing or imminent in this case, she answered yes.

The unit owners could not be reached for comment. Tzelios did not respond to a text message sent to a phone associated with her name or to calls seeking comment. According to a profile on the realtor.com website, Tzelios started working for Douglas Elliman in 2000 as a licensed sales associate, serving parts of Queens and Long Island’s North Shore.

In a phone interview Friday, Hauppauge lawyer Kenneth Mollins, representing Olaso and Christopher in their suit, called the incident "about as blatant as they come. ... This is horrific."

He said that on the day Olaso got the text, his clients, who are engaged, had driven to the 26th Avenue, Queens, home from Delaware. They needed to move because Olaso had gotten a job with Delta Air Lines based out of Kennedy Airport.

Mollins said that last June after reading the text message in a car outside the home, Olaso began to weep.

The lawsuit says that Tzelios explained "that the message had been intended for Defendant owner and had been transmitted to Plaintiffs inadvertently."

Tzelios tried to unsend the text message and continued to write messages to Olaso and Christopher asking if they wanted to see other homes until they blocked her, Mollins said.

Mollins said the lawsuit also named the homeowners as defendants because "people don’t generally send a message saying ‘Ugh, they’re Black’ unless the person they’re sending that to on the other end understands why it’s a problem. There must have been a conversation prior to that text message." He said Douglas Elliman was named because Tzelios’ "actions are attributed to the company, whether they deny it, or knew about it, or didn’t."

A representative for Attorney General Letitia James’ office said officials there were reviewing the matter but had not opened an investigation.

The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, which investigates allegations of housing-related discrimination, did not immediately comment.

Elaine Gross, president of ERASE Racism, a Syosset-based civil rights organization, said that the text message appeared to indicate violations to federal and state housing laws. "You’re not supposed to discriminate against people because of their perceived race," she said. "It so happened that (Olaso) got the text; otherwise, you'd have the same story that usually happens: they might have shown her the unit, but she would never have gotten the unit." 

A 2019 Newsday investigation found widespread disparate treatment of minority potential homebuyers on Long Island. Newsday found that authorities had not conducted significant government fair housing testing among Long Island’s 27,000 licensed real estate agents for almost a decade. Newsday's own testing suggested that Black buyers experienced disparate treatment 49% of the time.