VERDICT: Jury awards Gibson’s Bakery $11 million against Oberlin College

[Cyber Liberty]

VERDICT: Jury awards Gibson’s Bakery $11 million against Oberlin College

Posted by William A. Jacobson      
Friday, June 7, 2019

Punitive damage phase to start next Tuesday, which could increase the damages to $33 million.

The Jury in the Gibson’s Bakery v. Oberlin College case has reached a verdict.

According to our reporter in the Courtroom, the jury awarded $11 million. Here are the details: Allyn W. Gibson was awarded $3 million, David Gibson $5.8 million, Gibson Bros. $2,274,500. Next Tuesday there will be a separate punitive damages which could be a double award (meaning tripling the $11 million to $33 million).

(clarification) Meredith Raimondo was held liable on the libel and interference with business relations, but not intentional infliction of emotional distress. By stipulation, the college is responsible for any amounts awarded against her, so she will not pay anything out of pocket.

We followed this case from the start of the protests, through the lawsuit process, and now trial. Here’s my statement:

More:  https://legalinsurrection.com/2019/06/verdict-jury-awards-gibsons-bakery-11-million-against-oberlin-college/

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Cyber Note:  This story is about a candy store/bakery that stopped three black Oberlin students from shoplifting and called in the Police.  The faculty SJWs whipped up the SJW students to protest in numbers large enough to shut the store (established in 1885) down.  It almost drove them out of business completely but they hung on.  Oberlin will be paying the damages.

This is not a religious case like the others.

[Sanguine]

Wow.   Nice!

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Th board of regents will likely reconsider its policy toward covering the liability of its collegiate employees as the person who caused this payout apparently does not have to cough up any money, the college does.

So the libs want feds to forgive student loans incurred to pay for college so its professors can slander others and the college incurs the bills, then feds pay for it?

It is the same as Dems granting unions special rights in order to bulk up unions so they can contribute to Dems.

[Cyber Liberty]

Th board of regents will likely reconsider its policy toward covering the liability of its collegiate employees as the person who caused this payout apparently does not have to cough up any money, the college does.

So the libs want feds to forgive student loans incurred to pay for college so its professors can slander others and the college incurs the bills, then feds pay for it?

It is the same as Dems granting unions special rights in order to bulk up unions so they can contribute to Dems.

Ayup.  Just about any relationship that involves the Rat party ends up looking like a protection racket.

[mystery-ak]

Catering to the PC mob is going to cost Oberlin College big bucks
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/06/catering_to_the_pc_mob_is_going_to_cost_oberlin_college_big_bucks.html

[Wingnut]

Catering to the PC mob is going to cost Oberlin College big bucks
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/06/catering_to_the_pc_mob_is_going_to_cost_oberlin_college_big_bucks.html

Praying for the triple damages to be awarded.

[Cyber Liberty]

Praying for the triple damages to be awarded.

It's likely the statements by the College (linked in the article) will be introduced in next weeks Punitive hearing, making that treble-charge more likely.  They still have the smug arrogance that brought them to this point.

Let us pray....

(I wonder how the alumni feel about this?)

[Bigun]

Praying for the triple damages to be awarded.

 

I'll definitely join you!

[Wingnut]

It's likely the statements by the College (linked in the article) will be introduced in next weeks Punitive hearing, making that treble-charge more likely.  They still have the smug arrogance that brought them to this point.

Let us pray....

(I wonder how the alumni feel about this?)

Dean of students, Meredith Raimundo being fired would be a bonus win.

[Cyber Liberty]

I'll definitely join you!

Oberlin today, Berkeley tomorrow....

[Cyber Liberty]

Dean of students, Meredith Raimundo being fired would be a bonus win.

She needs to stay there, at least until next week.  The less apologetic Oberlin acts, the more likely the extra $22 Million will be awarded.

I found the discussion of Liability Insurance in @mystery-ak's link interesting, because if Insurance has to cover the bar tab, colleges all over are going to have Premiums go up based on the SJW activities of their staffs.

[Wingnut]

“People (were too) scared to come in. It’s hard to believe it could get that way in a small town,” he said.

In May testimony during the trial, David Gibson said the protests “devastated” the bakery’s revenue, which forced staffing cuts. The bakery went from 10 to 12 employees with six to seven of whom were full time to six to seven employees and only one working full time, David Gibson testified during the trial.

This also included several family members working without pay. David Gibson and Allyn Gibson told the court they haven’t collected pay since the protests occurred, nor have David’s wife, son and grandson. David Gibson’s brother, who lives in Canton, works 40 to 60 hours a week at the bakery without pay.

The amount of money the Gibson family received was about $2 million short of the $13 million Plakas asked the jury to award before the verdict. The jurors may award the family more than that in a punitive phase — when the jury can consider what commonly are known as “punishment” damages — which begins Tuesday in Lorain County Common Pleas Court.

More reason to award triple damages.

http://www.chroniclet.com/Local-News/2019/06/07/Gibson-s-Bakery-v-Oberlin-College-More-than-11-million-awarded.html

[skeeter]

“F*ck him,” Raimondo responded in a text message about Copeland. “I’d say unleash the students if I wasn’t convinced this needs to be put behind us.”

They can't punish Oberlin enough IMO. This text should be proof enough.

[Cyber Liberty]

“F*ck him,” Raimondo responded in a text message about Copeland. “I’d say unleash the students if I wasn’t convinced this needs to be put behind us.”

They can't punish Oberlin enough IMO. This text should be proof enough.

He texted that?  Wow...just begging for Punitive Damages, the purpose of which is to discourage future bad acts.  This one would definitely do it again.

[austingirl]

Hoping for huge punitive damages.

[Cyber Liberty]

Hoping for huge punitive damages.

The "We din't do nuffin" reaction to the verdict doesn't help Oberlin's case.  I wonder if that will get admitted as evidence at the Punitive Hearing?

[EdJames]

Let the damages be high enough to shutter the doors of that hell hole and salt the earth beneath it!!

[Bigun]

Let the damages be high enough to shutter the doors of that hell hole and salt the earth beneath it!!

  and 

[Cyber Liberty]

Let the damages be high enough to shutter the doors of that hell hole and salt the earth beneath it!!

Apparently the college has a few hundred Million in endowments.  Look for them to start drying up as the Alumni revolt.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

It's likely the statements by the College (linked in the article) will be introduced in next weeks Punitive hearing, making that treble-charge more likely.  They still have the smug arrogance that brought them to this point.

Let us pray....

(I wonder how the alumni feel about this?)

Are you really concerned on how Lena Dunham feels?

[skeeter]

He texted that?  Wow...just begging for Punitive Damages, the purpose of which is to discourage future bad acts.  This one would definitely do it again.

She's the radical campus SJW archetype I'd love to see utterly slammed. Even looks the roll.

[Cyber Liberty]

Are you really concerned on how Lena Dunham feels?

I was thinking more along the lines of "alumni who give money."  I like the idea of the school collapsing so Miss Dunham is an alumnus of nothing.

[Cyber Liberty]

She's the radical campus SJW archetype I'd love to see utterly slammed. Even looks the roll.

"Roll:"  Not a Freudian Slip in this case:

[Wingnut]

He texted that?  Wow...just begging for Punitive Damages, the purpose of which is to discourage future bad acts.  This one would definitely do it again.

in context:

The plaintiffs’ lawyers had plenty of examples of what they told the jury was “personal beliefs overshadowing professional responsibility.” In one email, Ben Jones, the vice president of communications for the school wrote to his co-executives in the school administration that, “I love how these Gibson supporters accuse us of making rash assumption decisions, but are totally blind to their own assumptions … all these idiots complain about the college.”

He closed with, “F*ck-em … they’ve made their own bed now.”

When Roger Copeland, an Oberlin College professor of theater and dance (he is “emeritus” status now) wrote a letter to the campus newspaper soon after the protests ended, and criticized how the school was treating Gibson’s in the letter, Jones sent a text message in caps saying, “F*CK ROGER COPELAND.”

“F*ck him,” Raimondo responded in a message. “I’d say unleash the students if I wasn’t convinced this needs to be put behind us.”

Raimondo was given these examples and others and then asked a very simple question. “When personal beliefs get involved in decision making, does that have an effect on trying to maintain professional responsibility?” asked plaintiffs’ attorney Lee Plakas. She was asked specifically about herself and the higher-ups in the Oberlin College administration.

Her answer was quite surprising.

“Their position is to not have a position,” she said.

Several of the jurors shook their heads in surprise when they heard that from her.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Oberlin saw a decrease in student enrollment immediately following this incident, and its bonds were downgraded by Moody's as well, so it is already in financial stress as it has been eating into its endowment for at least the last couple of years.

Let's hope this increases that angst.

Oberlin's Enrollment Headache Lingers
A smaller-than-expected freshman class is continuing to cause budget issues at the Ohio institution.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/12/12/oberlin-faces-budget-crunch-due-missed-enrollment-targets

Oh, that Dean of Students that has caused its financial demise is also under fire for discrimination for another lawsuit and remains in her seat at the college.

Get Woke, Go Broke: ‘Social Justice’ Agenda Leads Oberlin College Into Crisis

Meredith Raimondo is vice president and dean of students at Oberlin College, an elite liberal arts school in Ohio where the annual cost of attendance (tuition, room and board) is $68,672. Dean Raimondo is also named as a defendant in two lawsuits against Oberlin:

Oberlin College faces two serious lawsuits arising out of social justice activism on campus.
One suit, by a local bakery boycotted by Oberlin students and administration based on apparently false claims the bakery racially profiled students, has been permitted to move forward. . . .
[T]hree Oberlin students were arrested for shoplifting at Gibson’s bakery. Oberlin students claimed racial profiling, and mounted protests and a boycott supported by college student groups, administrators and faculty. The boycott continued even after police released data showing there was no racial profiling in shoplifting arrests at the bakery, and the three students pled guilty. . . . Gibson’s sued the college and its Dean of Students, Meredith Raimondo, for defamation and multiple other claims.
The Gibson’s lawsuit has caused a town-gown split that pits the privileged college and students against ordinary community members. . . .
In another lawsuit, an expelled Oberlin College male student sued claiming the hearing process was biased and stacked against men. . . .
A male student who was expelled from campus in October 2016 for alleged sexual assault has filed a federal lawsuit against Oberlin. . . . [T]he lawsuit contains allegations which, if proven, reflect that Oberlin’s system for adjudicating sexual assault accusations was fundamentally biased against males, at least during the 2015-2016 academic year.
As in the Gibson’s lawsuit, the alleged conduct of Dean of Students Raimondo was at issue.
[T]he student sought to file an Amended Complaint, after discovering a YouTube video in which Raimondo allegedly made statement evidencing bias against males.

Dean Raimondo is allegedly complicit both in the false accusation of racism against Gibson’s Bakery and an anti-male policy under which 100% of students accused of sexual misconduct were found guilty.
https://theothermccain.com/2018/02/27/oberlin-college-social-justice-debt-crisis/