Note: This article was previously posted at my former blog, writingitout
Here’s some crazy news you may not have heard about: A former adjudicator is suing the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) for wrongful dismissal. For those of us that have been fighting for the full reduction in backlogs and the restoration of justice at the LTB, this suit is nothing short of a bombshell. Today, I take a look at what’s in the filing and what it might mean for what we know about the LTB.
As the story goes, adjudicator Elan Shemtov was a part-time adjudicator who was dismissed on June 3, 2024. At the time, he says he was working seven days a week and, “the most productive duty member in terms of output of interim endorsements and making the greatest impact on reducing the backlogs in each duty queue.”
Shemtov points out that the LTB is a “Toxic and Unsafe Work Environment,” something we also saw in the Ombudsman’s report on the tribunal. The LTB denies this, but evidence continues to mount about the goings-on inside of the badly-performing bureaucracy. Shemtov cites the following as toxic behaviour:
- “escalating series of bullying and unjust treatment”
- a “toxic work environment…so prevalent..and is the root cause for a high rate of turnover”
- Treating Shemtov in a “in a high-handed, reprehensible and malicious manner” by mispronouncing Shmetov’s name and making ageist comments.
- “threatening [Shemtov’s] job security and reappointment”
- “making hostile and verbally abusive remarks”
- “engaging in bullying tactics”
- “superfluously micromanaging Mr. Shemtov and interfering with his independence as an Adjudicator”
If this took place, it’s all very damning stuff. We’d known for some time that the LTB brought in adjudicators that act unprofessionally in meetings (and not to mention dubious appointments). We’ve heard a ton of whispers of internal strife. But never this overtly. This may be why they’ve been doing such poor job of reducing the backlog.
Other parts of this case that are huge:
- In point 21, Shemtov says, “It has been well publicized that Ontario’s tribunal system is in a crisis, and the state of the inner workings of the Landlord and Tenant Tribunal is indicative of this.” – this is an outright admission, from a former adjudicator no less, that the LTB is in crisis.
- There is no reference to what started the rift here between Shemtov and his boss. One wonders if this might come out at trial, if that were to happen.
Even more about this case:
- Shemtov is being represented by Kathryn Marshall of Marshall Law. This a similar name to the firm that sued the government for Elsie Klau. In Elsie’s case, SOLO was helping Elsie and Marshall Law Group spearhead a class-action suit. The similar names are, of course, nothing more than a coincidence.
- The named defendants in the case are The Ministry of the Attorney General and Tribunals Ontario, but not the Government of Ontario. This is curious given that in a 2017 decision, it was made clear that Tribunals Ontario (the LTB) could not be sued:
[24] This court has held on two previous rule 21 motions that, apart from appeals and judicial review proceedings, the LTB is not an entity capable of being sued. Per Perell J. in Raba v. Wronecki, 2015 ONSC 20, at para. 33: - If successful, the Government (i.e. the taxpayer) paying such a large sum in damages to an adjudicator and not those that the LTB has failed to serve seems incredibly ironic.
This is all something I’ll be watching as this case plays out. Could it be destined to fail? Could the suit be intended more as a PR attack on the LTB? As time passes, there will be more questions to answer. At ratethletb.com, Shemtov doesn’t get glowing marks among small landlords (registration required) with an average rating of 2.3 (out of 5).