Following the original judgment for 11.2 Million in damages, the Jury in Gibson’s Bakery v Oberlin College has awarded additional punitive damages of 22 million. All because, in their opinion, Oberlin’s involvement showed malice toward the local business owner.
Related: SJW’s and Oberlin College Lose Lawsuit – Have to Pay Local Bakery $11.2 Million
The college has been crying poor, but they’ve got plenty of money. So, the question of an appeal, which seems inevitable, is can Oberlin get out from under the verdict? The answer is probably no.
After the initial protest that said Gibson’s was racist, Oberlin College did nothing to put out the fire, and in fact added to it. That is more than likely what made the jury think they school had acted with “malice’ toward Gibson’s, the primary piece of the punitive damage puzzle. Rather than put out a statement that Gibson’s was not racist, the school put out a letter on Nov. 11 from the school president and the dean of students that said, “Regarding the incident at Gibson’s, we are deeply troubled because we have heard from students that there is more to the story than what has been generally reported. We will commit every resource to determining the full and true narrative, including exploring whether this is a pattern and not an isolated incident.”
Oberlin disconnected its relationship with the bakery, including a campus delivery service that was no longer permitted to pick up and deliver for Gibson’s.
Texts and emails from Oberlin offered into evidence showed a culture of discrimination based on the false claims of racism.
Legal Insurrection interviewed about twenty students at random during the trial, all of whom refused ever to go the bakery again because it was racist. When shown the police reports and the fact that the three shoplifters plead guilty and claimed “no racial profiling” was involved, most of the students I spoke with said, “Cops lie.”
It seems unlikely that such a random sample would produce those results which suggest that (given all the other evidence) the College not only did nothing to contradict the false accusation they may have contributed to it becoming embedded in the campus culture.
Which makes sense. The very foundation of the modern learning experience turns on the presumption of guilt before innocence for disfavored groups or individuals and the perpetuation of discriminatory stereotypes by cultural elites. The SJW equity and inclusion movement is destructive. There is nothing diverse about demanding fealty to one worldview, a culture that is going to cost Oberlin a fortune.
The Jury also expects Oberlin to pay the Gibson’s attorney fees. Another $10 million. The judge will get to decide if that’s appropriate.
Given the size of the award, this is not over, but we’d like to think it has sent a message across the Lib-o-sphere. When your snowflake antics have crossed a line, you could be made to pay. You allowed a lie to fester and undermine a more than 125-year old family business.
That’s just evil.
