Helen Tzelios appears to have taken down her LinkedIn profile after she was fired by Douglas Elliman, the brokerage firm. This came after a couple alleged racial discrimination on part of Tzelios.
Lisa Renee Olaso and her fiancée, Cyril Christopher filed a lawsuit on Wednesday in Queens, alleging housing discrimination against Tzelios, the agent, the property owners and Douglas Elliman, her former employers.
The duo from Long Island alleged that Tzelios had texted ‘ugh they are black’ ahead of the apartment showing, which they ultimately declined to attend. The couple are reportedly from Delaware and had traveled in June to tour an apartment on 26th Avenue. They were relocating to New York as Olaso, 53, had landed a new job.
Tzelios was identified as the agent by PEOPLE in the report.
Helen Tzelios takes down LinkedIn profile
Tzelios’ LinkedIn profile can still be viewed on Google search, but opening the page shows the following message – ‘This page doesn’t exist. Please check your URL or return to LinkedIn home.’
This usually happens when a person’s profile is taken down. However, a preview of the profile tells us that Tzelios is a Licensed RE Broker Associate and Certified International Property Specialist (CIPS).
Helen Tzelios’ alleged racist text: ‘ugh they are black’
Olaso noted that Tzelios likely meant to send the message to the owner of the apartment. The agent indicated ‘that the message had been sent accidentally’ and also reportedly apologized later, calling the entire thing a ‘misunderstanding’.
She also reportedly told Olaso that there were ‘prior problems’ with previous Black tenants in the neighborhood. However, the couple were not as forgiving.
“What does that have to do with us?,” Olaso said while her partner added “Once you said ‘Ugh’ showed you discriminated against us. And then you put, ‘They are Black.’ What difference does it make?.”
Douglas Elliman noted that Tzelios was an independent contractor who the company fired within an hour of receiving the lawsuit. “Douglas Elliman has a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination of any kind,” the spokesperson said as per PEOPLE.
Olaso and her partner had blocked Tzelios after the incident and the duo have since moved to Commack. They said they spoke out about the issue in order for it to stop. Their lawsuit cites the Fair Housing Act, which is a federal law passed in 1968 banning housing discrimination based on race, religion, national origin, gender and other factors. It also cites the New York City Human Rights Law.