Ohio’s Oberlin College racked up over $4 million in interest charges for delaying payment to a local bakery after falsely claiming the owners of the bakery were racist.
The owners of Gibson’s Bakery were seeking damages after they claimed the allegations harmed their business when students boycotted the store and the college canceled its relationship with the bakery, Fox News reported.
WHILE CONSUMERS AND TRAVELERS SUFFER, BUTTIGIEG FOCUSES ON ‘RACIST’ ROADS
The college was ordered to pay $31.6 million to the bakery in 2019 after a jury found the school and a former dean liable for libel for the racism allegations. The owners of the bakery had tackled a black college student who was arrested after shoplifting bottles of wine. Two other black students were also involved in the altercation. However, the school ignored the order to pay the bakery, accruing $4,300 daily in interest, prompting the extra $4 million in fees.
A jury found that Oberlin College and its former Dean of Students Meredith Raimondo were involved in libel and awarded the bakery $44 million. However, Lorain County Judge John Miraldi later lowered the damages to $25 million. Oberlin was also ordered to reimburse the bakery for its legal fees, which cost an additional $6.5 million.
The jury also found that the college intentionally inflicted emotional distress on owner David Gibson and his son.
The verdict against Raimondo comes after she passed out fliers of the allegations to students in 2017, which claimed the bakery was a “RACIST establishment with a LONG ACCOUNT of RACIAL PROFILING and DISCRIMINATION,” according to court documents.
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The college asked the Ohio Supreme Court to halt the payment — however, the bakery also filed documents to the state Supreme Court opposing the order request. No date has been announced for the Supreme Court to hear the case.
