Paul Thompson, a Portland attorney representing the Bowman-Cryers, also declined comment, saying, "We don't want to speculate on their motives as to why they do or don't do things."
The dispute goes back to January 2013 when Rachel Cryer and her mother came into the Sweet Cakes shop for a cake-tasting appointment, only to be told by Aaron Klein that the Gresham bakery did not do cakes for same-sex weddings.
Cryer and Bowman, as they were then known, complained to the labor bureau, prompting a state investigation, four days of hearings before an administrative law judge this year and, ultimately, Avakian's July ruling.
Lawyers for the Kleins twice asked Avakian to delay enforcement of his order while the Oregon Court of Appeals considers their case, saying payment would lead to "financial ruin," Willamette Week reported.
Avakian rejected the requests, citing the amounts raised for the Kleins from crowd-funding sites. He issued his final denial on July 27.
Subsequently, emails between Jenn Gaddis, the chief prosecutor in the labor bureau's administrative prosecution unit, and the Kleins' attorneys addressed ways the debt might be satisfied without putting up cash.
"If we can come to agreement on the terms and conditions of a bond or irrevocable letter of credit," Gaddis wrote to the Kleins' attorneys Aug. 6, "the agency will stay collection of the emotional distress damages from your client."
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2015/09/sweet_cakes_owners_who_refused.html
