Posted on 04/03/2022 3:01:20 PM PDT by Twotone
Progressive Oberlin College lost a huge case in appeals court last week that forced the school to pay $31 million to a bakery, which it falsely accused of carrying out racist actions in a 2016 incident.
Gibson's Bakery – a 135-year-old family business near the campus of Oberlin College – was the site of an unfortunate incident. The owner's son allegedly confronted three black Oberlin students who attempted to shoplift bottles of wine. According to the police report, one of the suspects assaulted a store employee when confronted about the stolen wine.
The three students pleaded guilty to attempted theft and aggravated trespassing, and "said in statements required by a plea agreement that their actions were wrong and that the store wasn't racist," according to CBS News.
Following the incident, the Oberlin College student senate passed a resolution claiming that the bakery "has a history of racial profiling and discriminatory treatment of students and residents alike," despite any evidence. The senate called for student to "immediately cease all support, financial and otherwise, of Gibson's" and called upon Oberlin College President Marvin Krislov to publicly condemn the bakery.
The bakery launched a lawsuit in 2017, in which they asserted that the campaign launched by the small liberal arts college in northern Ohio was not only unfounded, but crippled their business.
In 2019, Lorain County Judge John Miraldi ordered Oberlin to pay the bakery over $40 million in damages. The figure was later reduced to $25 million, plus $6.2 million for the bakery's lawyer fees.
(Excerpt) Read more at theblaze.com ...
Exactly. The pinnacle of hypocrisy (standard leftard behavior in other words).
I was thinking more like $200MM out of a $1B endowment. Plus training for current and new hires for 10 years.
I will delay being an “extremely HAPPY” camper about the outcome of this case when it is reported that the check for the court ruling is deposited in the Gibson’s account and the check has cleared the Oberlin account. Thank you Gibson for pursuing this case to this great finish... there were probably some who advised you not to do what you did.
Sure they can use their free speech right to calumny and slander, they just have to pay for it.
Punitive damages need to be significant so that the college learns its lesson. A jury is supposed to make it hurt without bankrupting them.
Disband the student senate. They cost this college a lot of money and students. Of course the college went along with it so maybe losing students and therefore income is a good thing.
The reality is that the Supreme Court should reconsider its rulings on defamation. If someone lies about another, it should be actionable. If you don’t know for sure that what you’re saying is true, you should keep your yap shut. So many of our issues today would be solved if people could be held accountable for saying something that’s a lie. Not knowing it’s a lie should not be an excuse. Just like not knowing what the law is.
I would bet that you are right, but that possibility was discussed (here at FR) back at the time this story played out, and someone said that if they do that Gibson's can simply start seizing Oberlin physical assets — real estate included — and sell it on the open market, with the Lorain County Sheriff's help. They can keep this up until the total of the judgment is collected.
I think actually it is a total of 59mil with fees and interest. No where near their 1.3 billion endowment
The ruling is good news, but not sure we can celebrate until the judgment is actually PAID. Oberlin is dragging this out literally until the plaintiffs pass away.
It wasn't "student speech."
"The university, including Dean of Students Meredith Raimondo, helped organize boycotts and protests of the bakery, and labeled it “racist.”"
https://theohiostar.com/2022/04/02/oberlin-loses-appeal-after-defaming-local-bakery/
I believe it was shown at trial that college employees were involved in stirring up students and passed out fliers denouncing the business as racist.
https://calendar.oberlin.edu/group/student_senate
No followers.
No upcoming events.
No recent activity. (Oh really?! LOL)
40 Million. That’s a lot of facility upgrades, salaries and pensions.
Way to go kids!
The only thing worse is effecting your parents credit rating. Hey, there’s an idea!
It boggles my mind that their are people stupid enough to spend $60,000 a year to send their kids to Oberlin College.
I see they are trying to cloak themselves in a plea about free speech, but I suspect this liberal college hasent had too many, if any, conservative speakers freely talking on campus.
I didn’t know that. How very sad. Oberlin College is a scourge.
YES!
Have fun putting that in your annual financial report, Oberlin.
Fools that they are, they obviously failed to seriously consider quietly settling the case.
Punitive damages are awarded above and beyond compensatory damages. In cases like this, “punitive” is measured based on the value of the defendant’s assets.
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