Jury
awards Gibson’s Bakery $33 million in punitive damages. By Thomas Lifson. 6/14/19, American Thinker.
It
appears that the ordinary folk who live in proximity to hyper-progressive
campuses are fed-up with being the objects of false accusations of racism (and
all the other imaginary offenses ending in ...isms and ...phobia), and want to
incentivize change in academia. The same jury that awarded a local bakery $11.3
million in compensatory damages from Oberlin College added another $33 million in punitive damages, intended to send a message to
the defendant and to similar institutions that such behavior is strongly
discouraged.
As
William A. Jacobson of Legal Insurrection points out, Ohio law caps punitive damages at 200% of
compensatory damages, so the jury actually exceeded that cap.…in addition to
the $11.2 million compensatory damages awarded last Friday, the jury awarded a
total of $33 million in punitive damages, which will probably be reduced by the
court to $22 million because of the state law cap at twice compensatory (it’s
not an absolute cap, but probably will apply here). That brings the total
damages to $33 million. We will have the breakdown soon. The jury also awarded
attorney’s fees, to be determined by the judge.
I’d
say that the jury was indeed sending a message to Oberlin and its students that
they are fed-up with pampered, arrogant, politically correct social justice
warriors and the college officials who coddle and support them. In the case of
Gibson’s Bakery, the 5 generation family business was punished with
demonstrations, pamphlets, and boycotts for allegedly being racist in
apprehending a black student who had shoplifted some wine, and then two other
black Oberlin students joined in to beat and kick the family member who caught
the thief.
Paul
Mirengoff of Powerline points
out that Oberlin appears to have engaged in a bit of double-talk: As I
understand it, Oberlin argued at trial that it isn’t liable because its
students, not the college, were to blame for harming Gibson’s. Then, at the
damages phase, Oberlin argued that the college shouldn’t be slammed with a big
damages assessment because that outcome would harm its students.
Buoyed
by an ocean of federal loans and grant money to students, higher education has
drifted off into its own twisted universe with a sense of right and wrong at
odds with the experiences and beliefs of most non-academics. The Lorain County
jury in Ohio has pulled Oberlin back toward reality, though it is all but
certain Oberlin will appeal and exercise all the option s available to postpone
or overturn the judgment against it.
The
danger for the academy extends far beyond the potential for future lawsuits
against colleges and universities for coddling and encouraging outrageous
behavior by student radicals. The broader society contains many people who are
utterly fed up with its childish self-centered arrogance. With the cohort of
college age potential students shrinking, academia is going to want a lot more
money from private and governmental sources to help it survive. Having
alienated many potential bases of support, they will find that help, when they
need it, may not be as available as they hope.
Jury Forces Oberlin to Pay $11 Million to Bakery It Falsely
Accused of Racism, by Patriotic Freedom
Fighter, 6/12/19.
Claims of racism or hate
against restaurants, retailers, and even schools are becoming more commonplace.
Once accused, a business can have a very hard time recovering, even if they did
nothing wrong or were targeted deliberately.
One business in Ohio
experienced this first hand when its owners were falsely and publicly accused
of racial discrimination by a near-by college in 2017.
Gibson’s Bakery sued
Oberlin College after the school, students, and officials launched a campaign
of libel and harassment against the business, which resulted in a dramatic loss
of income and the near closure of the once popular bakery.
The harassment began
after a 2016 incident in which a black Oberlin student shoplifted bakery items
and attempted to buy alcohol, despite being under 21.
The bakery owner
confronted the shoplifter and was beaten by the student and two others. Owner
Allyn Gibson was on the ground being punched and kicked when police arrived.
His assailants were
black. Gibson is white. When the three students were arrested for assault and
theft, the college launched a campaign of terror against the bakery in protest.
From blacklisting the
bakery to threatening patrons and attacking the business for being racist (even
though the assailants were arrested by police, not the bakery), a two-year
campaign against the brand was launched. Students, groups and even college
administration participated.
The Gibson family,
owners of Gibson’s Bakery, finally had to file a lawsuit to protect their
business and financial future. Several family members worked for over a year
without pay to keep the business going. Students spent days standing outside,
handing out flyers and telling potential customers that the business was
racist.
“People were too scared
to come in. It’s hard to believe it could get that way in a small town,” Gibson
said.
Three years after the
initial theft and assault, the case finally headed to court. After the bakery
filed suit, the case headed to the courtroom and an Ohio jury found for the
plaintiffs.
The award of $11 million
included compensation for libel, for the deliberate harm caused and for the
injuries sustained in the original confrontation.
The school was included
in the complaint because the protests and libel campaigns were supported and
coordinated by faculty and staff, including Meredith Raimondo, the dean of
students and college Vice President, who led the campaign against the bakery.
Both the school and Raimondo were named in the lawsuit; the funds awarded were
from the school, because of their inaction and their employee’s sustained smear
campaign against Gibson’s.
Neither the college or
Raimondo has responded to reporter inquiries about the incident after the
verdict came in.
Comments
Racism is prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against
someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is
superior.
There is ample evidence that no race is
superior to any other race. All human beings are subject to the normal curve
distributions of talents and abilities.
I believe our education system has become toxic
and worthless. Am I guilty of educism?
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody
GA Tea Party Leader
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