Oberlin College sued by business over protests

An Oberlin business is suing Oberlin College and a vice president at the institution over student protests in 2016.

The suit was filed Nov. 7 in Lorain County Common Pleas Court on behalf of Gibson Bros. Inc., David R. Gibson and Allen W. Gibson.

Along with Oberlin College, Meredith Raimondo, vice president and dean of students, are named as defendants.

Oberlin College, however, denies any wrong doing.

The complaint arises from protests some Oberlin College students held in front of Gibson’s Food Mart and Bakery, 23 W. College St., in November 2016 as a response to three of their classmates being arrested and charged with attempting to steal from the store.

Jonathan Aladin, 20, Cecelia Whettston, 19, and Endia Lawrence, 20, pleaded guilty in August to charges of attempted theft and aggravated trespassing. Aladin also pleaded guilty to underage purchase of alcohol.

Lorain County Common Pleas Judge James L. Miraldi placed the trio on one year of community control and ordered them to pay restitution to the store.

As part of the plea deal, they were required to read statements explicitly stating the incident was not racially motivated.

The suit alleges, despite the Oberlin Police Department releasing the incident report refuting the racial narrative, the college persisted in assisting students in protesting the store to bolster an attempt to brand the college as having a ”legacy of being a strong advocate for and a strong supporter of African American students and racial minorities.”

Aladin offered prosecutors to plead guilty to the charge of theft and Oberlin College was aware of that when a member of the board of trustees paid a retainer for an attorney to fight the charges and the college allegedly paid for a limo to take Aladin to Columbus and meet with the lawyer, the complaint says.

David Gibson felt pressure to approve a plea agreement in the case, the suit says.

However, Oberlin Municipal Court Judge Thomas A. Januzzi denied the agreement citing the seriousness of a second-degree felony robbery charge that was intended to be dropped in the deal, and the loss of money the bakery was undergoing due to protests by Oberlin College students, according to the suit.

The protests involved hundreds of students, deans, professors and college staff filling the sidewalks in front of the business and disseminating a flyer the suit identifies as libelous, the complaint says.

The flyer claims the business “is a racist establishment with a long account of racial profiling and discrimination,” and urging customers to shop elsewhere, the suit says.

The flyer also identified 10 of the bakery’s competitors again urging consumers to not patronize Gibson’s, according to the suit.

The Oberlin Police Department investigated the claims of racism against the bakery and found that “of the 40 adults arrested for shoplifting at Gibson’s Bakery in the past five years, only six were African American,” the suits says.

According to the filing, the college publicly announced it would end any purchases from the bakery on Nov. 14, 2016. The colleges’ director of dining services took a leave of absence and then early retirement after being ordered by Raimondo to cancel the contract.

According to the suit, Oberlin College has an interest in the bakery failing because it wants control of a parking lot adjacent to the business and owned by Off Street Parking Inc., of which David Gibson maintains the controlling interest in.

In a meeting between David Gibson and former Oberlin College President Marvin Krislov and another employee, Gibson shared the negative effect the college’s and its students’ actions were having on the business and the Gibson family, according to the suit.

Oberlin College represented it was open to reinitiating the contracts if the bakery would agree to “not push criminal charges against first-time shoplifters,” the complaint says.

The college also insisted when a student is caught shoplifting, that the bakery call Raimondo rather than the police, the suit says.

Gibson refused, the filing says.

Contracts between the bakery and Oberlin College were reinstated in February 2017, but the school has refused to retract the defamatory statements and continues to defame the business, the suit claims.

As well as the economic sanctions against the business, the suit alleges David Gibson and Allyn Gibson have suffered “a severe emotional and physical toll.”

According to the filing, the Gibsons are alleging Raimondo and Oberlin College committed libel, slander, tortious interference with business relationships, tortious interference with contracts, deceptive trade practices, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent hiring retention and supervision and trespass.

The suit requests an amount in excess of $50,000.

In a Nov. 8 statement emailed to The Morning Journal, the college denies the claims.

“The allegations are untrue and we will vigorously defend against them,” the statement read. “The College values its long relationship with the town of Oberlin and its businesses, including Gibson’s Bakery.

“We are saddened that the Gibson family has chosen to pursue litigation. As this is now a legal matter, the College will suspend, effective immediately, its business relationships with Gibson’s Bakery until such time as a mutually productive relationship may be reestablished.”