Oberlin College in Ohio must pay a bakery more than $11 million after labeling the local establishment as racist.
The college lost the court case to Gibson’s Bakery on Friday, according to the Chronicle-Telegram. A jury ruled in favor of the bakery, Allyn Gibson, and Allyn’s son David Gibson on charges that Oberlin and Meredith Raimondo, the college’s vice president, libeled and intentionally inflicted emotional distress on the Gibsons and interfered with the bakery’s business.
“All the Gibsons ever wanted was for the truth to come out,” the Gibsons’ attorney Lee Plakas said. “All they ever asked from the beginning, from Oberlin College, was to use its power and influence and might to tell the truth, and that letter never came. But the jury sent the letter that was louder and more visible and more public.”
The court battle stemmed from a 2016 incident where David Gibson attempted to detain a black college student who tried to use a fake ID to buy alcohol and shoplift from the bakery. David followed the student outside and got into a physical confrontation with him. Authorities arrived on scene to find the student along with two other black students hitting David while he was on the ground.
After the incident, students at Oberlin protested outside the bakery, labeling it racist. Raimondo joined the students in protesting and handing out fliers claiming the bakery had a history of racism, witnesses testified. Oberlin College stopped doing business with the bakery after the incident, but resumed that business in January 2017.
The three black students that hit David pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges in August 2017. The college again severed its business ties with the bakery after the bakers filed the lawsuit in November 2017.
Since the 2016 incident, Gibson’s bakery has taken significant financial damage and has laid off most of its workers.
After the jury’s verdict, Oberlin vice president Donica Thomas Varner said the college stood by its actions and asserted that it was innocent of all charges in an email to Oberlin alumni.
“We are disappointed with the verdict and regret that the jury did not agree with the clear evidence our team presented,” Varner said. “Neither Oberlin College nor Dean Meredith Raimondo defamed a local business or its owners, and they never endorsed statements made by others. Rather, the College and Dr. Raimondo worked to ensure that students’ freedom of speech was protected and that the student demonstrations were safe and lawful, and they attempted to help the plaintiffs repair any harm caused by the student protests.”
