By Shumaila Mubarak

An associate professor* in the Department of Civil Engineering has filed a lawsuit valued at over $16 million against Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), alleging administrative mismanagement resulting in the derailment of his multi-million dollar research project and halting his students’ academic progress.

According to the statement of claim delivered to TMU on Aug. 20, the professor and his graduate student team were building a new wind tunnel facility in a shared lab space at the university. But due to institutional delays and project relocations, the research project was repeatedly disrupted and later cancelled by TMU administrators without his knowledge.

“There were a lot of limitations. We didn’t want to interfere…”

In an interview with The Eyeopener, the professor explained that, due to TMU’s lack of infrastructure, he and his team had been working in a laboratory space borrowed from the Aerospace Engineering department from 2018 to 2023 to test the existing wind tunnel.

“It should have been a turning point for TMU”

However, he and his team decided to apply for a grant at the Canada Foundation for Innovation in 2021 to build their own custom wind tunnel facility at TMU since the existing tunnel “required modifications to better suit” their research project, he said.

“There were a lot of limitations. We didn’t want to interfere [with the aerospace team’s testing on the wind tunnel]…so we decided it’s better to apply for a new grant,” he said.

They won the national grant in late 2023 and the professor said, “It should have been a turning point for TMU” in an email to The Eye.

“[The university was] pressuring me to fund the space and the equipment”

Instead, the space assigned to them by the university for the facility was verbally
changed four times, requiring “redesign and budget overruns,” according to the
statement of claim.

The claim also alleges that the professor was pressured by a senior administrator at the university to personally cover the renovation costs for the wind tunnel.

“…it got canceled, which is basically wiping out the work of my students for the past three years”

“[The university was] pressuring me to fund the space and the equipment…basically trying to shift part of the responsibility of the institution to the professor. It’s not right,” he said in an interview with The Eye.

When he refused to cover renovation costs, TMU cancelled the $1.6 million research project in May 2025 without his knowledge, the claim states.

“Only after I refused, it got cancelled, which is basically wiping out the work of my students for the past three years,” he said.

The Eye reached out to the university but didn’t receive a comment in time for the publication.

“I did not choose litigation. I am here because TMU left me no choice after escalating internally at various levels”

The faculty member said he tried all internal processes and options available to solve the matter after the cancellation of his project. But nothing worked out, which is why he then filed the litigation of over $16 million against TMU to defend his students and his research. He told The Eye this monetary compensation wasn’t the driving force behind his actions.

According to the hearing brief document obtained by The Eye, the professor claims, “I did not choose litigation. I am here because TMU left me no choice after escalating internally at various levels.”

Immediately after filing the litigation, he said he received two threatening emails from TMU’s legal team pressuring him to withdraw the lawsuit.

The Eye has obtained both of these emails.

“…basically treating them as collateral damage here, trying to really crush them in a way that is inhumane”

When he refused to withdraw the litigation, he said an investigation was launched into three of his graduate students.

“These are very calibre students. Three key people in my group, [the university]
launched an investigation against them…basically treating them as collateral damage here, trying to really crush them in a way that is inhumane,” he said.

According to the briefing, two of his students were denied graduate student payments until he intervened.

The briefing document states that some of his students “have indicated they will seek other opportunities outside TMU because of the uncertainties regarding their stalled research project.”

“Everything is frozen for them until they clear the investigation”

The faculty member informed The Eye that his students** are prohibited from discussing the investigation or visiting campus. “Everything is frozen for them until they clear that investigation,” he said.

The professor also filed Freedom of Information (FOI) requests after the investigation was launched to seek transparency, but he says the “time is running out” for those affected.

The Eye obtained the FOI requests from the professor.

The cancelled project is currently stalling $1.6 million in frozen research funds, according to the statement of claim.

In court, the faculty member is seeking “accountability and transparency” to protect his research and students, the filing reads.

TMU has since filed a statement of defence in response.

*This source has requested to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the matter. The Eye has verified this source.

**The Eye contacted the students involved in the lawsuit but didn’t receive a comment in time for the publication.