Bakery wins settlement of more than $11M from Oberlin College
Gibson’s Bakery ELYRIA — won more than $11 million from Oberlin College on Friday in a lawsuit stemming from protests outside the College Street business in November 2016.
The bakery sued the liberal arts college and Vice President and Dean of Students Meredith Raimondo after a robbery at the bakery.
Three black Oberlin students were arrested after one tried to use a fake ID and shoplifted from Gibson’s in 2016, according to the Chronicle-Telegram, which extensively covered the case. Allyn Gibson, the white son of the bakery’s owner, followed the students out of the store and got into a physical altercation with them.
After the students were arrested, student protests erupted, claiming that the robbery charge and physical conflict were racially motivated. Protestors urged patrons to shop elsewhere.
The protests became so large that Oberlin’s police chief testified that he was considering pulling in the county’s riot team , according to the Chronicle-Telegram. The divide was covered by national media outlets, including the Associated Press and CBS.
The students pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in August 2017, reading statements into the record that Gibson was within his rights to detain the robber and that the conflict was not racially motivated.
Oberlin had stopped ordering from the bakery after the 2016 protests, but resumed business with Gibson’s in January 2017, according to the Chronicle-Telegram. When Gibson’s filed the lawsuit in November 2017, Oberlin quit doing business with them again.
The lawsuit claimed that Raimondo handed out flyers calling Gibson’s racist and spoke into a bullhorn at the protests. The suit also said other professors participated.
A member of the Gibson’s Bakery legal team said the jury found:
Oberlin College and Raimondo liable for defamation
Oberlin College liable for infliction of intentional emotional distress
Raimondo liable for intentional interference of business relationships
Oberlin spokesman Scott Wargo wrote in an email that the college has no comment on the verdict.
Lead attorney for Gibson’s Bakery, Lee Plakas, said in a phone interview that the case was a “David vs. Goliath” situation and is, to his knowledge, one of the longest-running civil trials in Lorain County history.
It was hard to find jurors who hadn’t read about or formed opinions on the case after it was covered heavily by the media, he said. There were also about 15 attorneys who participated in the trial on both sides.