Oberlin College’s $33 Million Lesson

The Bell Tolls: Oberlin College’s $33 Million Lesson

by Nina Bookout in Cultural Issues 9 Comments

The bell tolled for Oberlin College. Yesterday a jury handed down one helluva a punitive damage award to Gibson’s Bakery. Oberlin College was given a $33 million lesson in how NOT to let woke SJW’s have the run of the place.

Legal Insurrection has been following this case from the very beginning. This is what started this saga. 

“On November 9, 2016, Gibson’s employees noticed what they thought was a person shoplifting two bottles of wine hidden in his jacket. That alleged shoplifter was a black Oberlin College student. When they attempted to stop and photograph him, they were attacked by several other people accompanying the student.”

This from the police report:

“On Wednesday, November 9, 2016, at approximately 4:58pm, officers responded to the area of Gibson’s Bakery in reference to a report of a fight in progress. As officers were responding to the area, dispatch advised that this was involving an alleged theft complaint. Dispatch advised that Allyn Gibson, who is an employee of Gibson’s Bakery, was attempting to apprehend a subject who Allyn had witnessed attempt to steal several items. As officers approached the area, Sgt. Ortiz, and Officer Feuerstein both stated they observed Allyn Gibson lying on his back with several individuals kneeling over him punching and kicking him with several other individuals in the immediate area. Officers attempted to gain control of the situation and were met several times with resistance from several different individuals. After a few minutes officers were finally able to take one female into custody and calm the incident and attempt to figure out what had taken place.”

What happened next was classic #BlackLivesMatter playbook. The bakery was labeled racist and protests were organized. Oberlin’s Dean of Students was present at the protests to help ‘keep everyone safe’. Student organizations called for a boycott of the bakery. And what did Oberlin do? Issue a statement blaming Trump’s election and essentially called Gibson’s Bakery racist.

The Gibson family decided to fight back. They took Oberlin to court.

Oberlin’s defense in the case was quite something

• Defense says five generations of family history is irrelevant
• Defense stated Bakery is worth $35,000 – less than one semester’s tuition at Oberlin
• ‘Support’ means Gibson’s Bakery should’ve settled with Oberlin College and not taken them to court even though Oberlin refused to settle earlier
• ‘Support’ means letting students riot and protest and have a quiet space as long as they don’t get too violent
• ‘Support’ means Dean of Students handing a reporter a very racist flyer and then calling same reporter a liar for putting that in the article

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During trial, Oberlin College practically called Gibson's Bakery and owners Deplorables, no wonder jury wanted to punish them https://legalinsurrection.com/2019/06/gibsons-bakery-v-oberlin-college-trial-reflects-higher-ed-disconnect-from-the-lives-of-most-americans/ …

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The judge and jury learned that Gibson’s Bakery and the family received threats, employees had their tires slashed, and 90-year-old Allyn W. Gibson fell and broke 3 vertebrae in his neck after people banged on his 1st floor apartment window in the wee hours of the morning. Yet Oberlin let Woke SJW jackasses run the campus and attempt to ruin a long-standing community business, all because of a shoplifter.

““What [Oberlin College] did to the Gibsons’ was irrational … and that part of it really angered me as just a private person who saw what was happening to the Gibsons. You would expect a highly regarded university, with a long history of being a great school in this country, would have disregarded what we would think of as a basic thought process,” Plakas continued.””

Plakas closing statement to the jury included quoting John Donne’s ‘For Whom The Bell Tolls,’ and the following:

““Why is the country watching you. Because the country agrees that what happened to the Gibsons should not happen to anyone, but could happen to everyone.”

” Colleges are watching us and you. Because they all know the way colleges are run will be affected, and by your decisions, they will be””

The jury found for Gibson’s Bakery and awarded the business $11 million. Yesterday, the jury rendered its verdict in the punitive damages phase.

David Gibson – $17.5 million punitive damages

Allyn W. Gibson — $8.75 million punitive damages

Gibson Bros. Inc. (the Bakery) – $6,973,500 punitive damages

That puts the grand total at $33 million dollars. Will Oberlin College learn its lesson? Given the statement they just issued, the answer is a resounding NO. The college has been on the Woke SJW spree for at least 10 years now. The college needs a complete overhaul. Will that happen? Doubtful. Especially since students currently on campus firmly believe that Gibson’s is racist and the cops lied about the shoplifting. 

The Gibson’s Bakery case should be a major wake up call for college campuses everywhere.

The jury is telling Oberlin and the country that ordinary law abiding citizens and businesses have had enough of the juvenile SJW wokeness crap. Colleges and the media (who have completely ignored this case) had better take note that unchecked campus leftism doesn’t pay, or the bell will toll for them as well.