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.
By Paul Sacca via theblaze.com
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