https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/oberlin-ohio-lawsuit/2022/12/17/id/1100910/Ohio's Oberlin College Pays $36M Judgment to Defamed BakeryBy Charles Kim | Saturday, 17 December 2022
Oberlin College in Ohio paid a local bakery a more than $36 million judgment for defaming them after a 2016 incident at the business.
"We can confirm that all funds have been disbursed and that the family is continuing with the process of rebuilding Gibson’s Bakery for the next generations," Brandon McHugh, attorney for Gibson’s Bakery in Oberlin told Cleveland’s WKYC 3News on Thursday.
The lawsuit and damages award came after a 2016 incident where the bakery co-owner’s son, Allyn Gibson, chased and tackled a Black male Oberlin College student suspected of stealing a bottle of wine from the business.
According to the WKYC report, two Black female students accompanying the male tried to intervene and all three were arrested by police and later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges in the case.
The incident led to protests outside of the bakery with flyers handed out by a college vice president and a dean of students claiming the business was racist and included a resolution to that effect from the student senate of the school which was emailed to all students.
The report said the school also banned its food service provider from using the bakery.
The bakery sued the school for defamation in 2017 and won the case in 2019, with a Lorain County jury awarding the business $44 million in compensatory and punitive damages.
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