A New York City real estate agent, Helen Tzelios, was fired after allegedly sending a racist text about Black clients. In addition, a lawsuit has been filed against Douglas Elliman Real Estate.
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New York Real Estate Agent Reportedly Sends Racist Text
A New York City real estate agent, Helen Tzelios, was reportedly fired after sending a racist text to a homeowner. According to WABC, Tzelios was employed by Douglas Elliman Real Estate when she also sent the text to her clients, Lisa Renee Olaso and Cyril Christopher.
Olaso said that in June 2026, she and her fiancé were getting out of the car to look at a property on 26th Avenue in Flushing when she received a text from Tzelios. The text was reportedly meant for the homeowner, but it was sent via group text to Olaso.
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“As we were getting out of the car,” she recalled. “I received the text message that said, ‘Ugh. They are Black.'”
Furthermore, she added that after she questioned the agent, Tzelios tried to explain away the racism by claiming the neighborhood previously had trouble with Black residents.
“When she looked at her phone, she started to explain that there were previous, Black tenants in the neighborhood and that they had caused a lot of trouble,” she added.
Lisa Renee Olaso and Cyril Christopher File Lawsuit
Following the incident, Lisa Renee Olaso and Cyril Christopher filed a discrimination lawsuit against Tzelio. Not only that, but they are suing Douglas Elliman Real Estate. Furthermore, it appears that the homeowner is being sued as well, per NBC New York. The couple’s lawyer, Kenneth Mollins, said that the homeowner is partly responsible.
“Unless the person receiving the text gets it in some context to know why she’s sending that,” he said. “So, we believe the homeowner was in some way responsible here.”
Agent Reportedly Fired Over Racist Text
Douglas Elliman reportedly fired Tzelios over the text. Furthermore, the agency released a statement saying they have a no-discrimination policy.
“Douglas Elliman has a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination of any kind, and the agent is no longer with the company.”
Cyril Christopher reportedly said that the incident was painful. “It’s like judging a book by its cover,” he said. “You haven’t even read the book, and you already made a judgement call.”
His fiancée added that the apology provided little comfort.
“It doesn’t take away the pain you caused us that day,” said Olaso. “It doesn’t change the pain.”
