Lisa Renee Olaso and her fiancé, Cyril J. Christopher, had just arrived to tour an apartment in Flushing, Queens, when the text hit Olaso’s phone. It came from Helen Tzelios, the Douglas Elliman broker showing the place, and according to the couple’s lawsuit, it was meant for the apartment’s owner. It read: “ugh they are black.”
The showing was back in June, weeks after the couple relocated from Delaware so Olaso could start a new job. Per the complaint, Tzelios followed the text by telling them the apartment was no longer available, then relisted it at a higher price. In the same thread, after the damage was done, she wrote back: “I am so sorry.”
On Wednesday the couple sued Douglas Elliman, Tzelios and the apartment’s owners in Queens County Supreme Court, claiming violations of the Fair Housing Act and New York’s human rights laws and seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. At a press conference Thursday, a tearful Olaso said of the broker, “She showed her true colors.” The couple says this is not about a payout: they want the story told.
Douglas Elliman says it has “a zero-tolerance policy against discrimination in any form,” that “the agent in question is no longer with the company,” and that it is cooperating fully. Tzelios has not responded publicly to the allegations.
