The Vancouver Tenants Union (VTU) is being sued in small claims court by a landlord alleging that he experienced “psychological harm” as a result of the group’s organizing efforts.
According to court documents, landlord Andrzej Kowalski is suing the tenant organization for $35,000 - the maximum amount permitted under small claims court - for “suffered annoyance, distress, disruption of daily life, and, in some instances, psychological harm.”
The VTU said this claim arose after they successfully thwarted two of Kowalski’s eviction attempts against tenants at 1171-1177 East 14th Avenue in East Vancouver.
In 2022, Kowalski attempted to evict all of his tenants after purchasing the property the previous year. He had planned to have the seven heritage apartments vacated to construct four luxury condominiums.
“We launched a public campaign that [aimed to pressure] him and the city not to allow the development to go through,” said VTU organizer Sydney Ball.
Following a year of organizing by the 1177 Tenants Collective, Kowalski’s request to rezone the building was denied.
The next year, Kowalski attempted to evict a long-term tenant of the same building, Terry McIntosh, in June 2025, claiming that he needed the apartment for a permanent caretaker.
“Terry was really vocal and one of the main tenants in the campaign to initially save their home from the condo conversion,” said Ball. The VTU fought this eviction as well, which eventually went to the Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB). Eventually, an RTB arbitrator ruled in McIntosh’s favour and allowed him to remain in the building - a decision that Kowalski has challenged, according to Nov. 2025 court documents.
“It’s incredibly stressful to have your home threatened”
In the claim that Kowalski filed against the VTU in Sept. 2025, he alleges that between the period of Feb. 6, 2024 and Aug. 20, 2025, the VTU “sent or caused to be sent… over 900 emails and over 200 telephone calls and voicemails.”
Court documents also reference two protest gatherings that included dozens of supporters and “attempted to access [Kowalski]” at his personal residence, “in an attempt to harass [Kowalski] and unduly pressure [Kowalski’s] conduct of Residential Tenancy proceedings underway at the time.” The VTU denies all of the allegations in the claim.
“It’s interesting to get any lawsuit from a landlord claiming mental distress from organizing, when obviously the choice to evict your tenants…for profit is on them,” said Ball, adding that, for tenants, “it’s incredibly stressful to have your home threatened.”
If the organization is forced to pay Kowalski, members of the VTU have been raising money through a series of fundraisers as part of their “Teach Landlords A Lesson” campaign.
Over the last several months, members have hosted sold-out comedy shows in Mount Pleasant, a screenprinting party on Hastings, multiple tenant-union-themed movie nights, and, most recently, a bake sale hosted by the Fairview Chapter last Sunday.
Lawsuit piñata at the VTU Fairview Chapter bake sale fundraiser/ Maddi Dellplain
At the bake sale, VTU member Rajpreet Sidhu said that residents of Fairview had been “really supportive,” raising an estimated $400 in a few hours, bringing the VTU's total to over $23,000.
Sidhu added that public events like the April 9 media rally that the VTU hosted outside of Kowalski’s business address are really important to show that “we’re being sued, but we’re not scared. Landlords [have been using] this tactic more and more on tenants.”
This isn’t the first time the VTU has fought off a lawsuit from a disgruntled landlord. In 2024, Anoop Majithia unsuccessfully sued the VTU for defamation when posters of his likeness as a bug and with devil horns appeared in the West End.
“It’s difficult, landlords have access to money and lawyers to launch these kinds of things… we're a volunteer-led organization, and tenants don’t have access to those resources,” said Ball. “That in itself can grind down organizing efforts and put people’s attention away to something even if it's completely frivolous.”
“We’re taking it as a collective time to take a stand against landlords that use this as a tactic to say as a group that we’re not scared, and we’ll continue to defend tenants’ homes regardless.”
VTU says case highlights importance of strong anti-SLAPP laws
Ball said that lawsuits like this demonstrate the importance of strong anti-SLAPP legislation, or legislation that protects those speaking out in matters of public interest against “frivolous lawsuits” designed to intimidate, silence, or financially burden critics.
“Strengthening that legislation is helpful for us because we need to protect people’s rights to demonstrate and advocate for themselves.” While B.C. does boast some of the strongest anti-SLAPP legislation in the country, these cases can be costly for those involved.
The VTU is scheduled to meet with Kowalski for mediation on Friday, May 1, to determine whether the claim proceeds to trial.
“Obviously, we would like him to drop the lawsuit,” said Sidhu. If the VTU is forced to pay out Kowalski, their fundraising efforts to date have gotten them about $10,000 shy of that benchmark. If not, Sidhu said the group hopes to put that money toward opening a new, more accessible storefront for the organization.
“In every case [we’ve been involved in], knowing that their homes are under threat, weighs on tenants significantly… But what we have is community, and we can stand together in solidarity,” Ball said.
Vancity Lookout reached out to Kowalski by email for comment, but did not receive a response in time for publication.
