It has been more than three years since Oberlin College was ordered to pay Gibson’s Bakery tens of millions of dollars after the school supported and encouraged students who falsely accused the bakery of racism.
Now the Gibson family says the bakery is struggling to survive, stating in a motion to the court that the shop “may only survive for the next couple of months” without Oberlin paying what it owes. The family-owned bakery also said in their motion that Oberlin continues to harm the store and asked the court to execute the judgment against Oberlin.
“The continuing conduct of which the Gibsons have become aware and which has brought the Gibsons to their knees include the following: Oberlin College’s authorized new student tour guides. are still being heard to say don’t shop at Gibsons Bakery when the tours pass in front of the store; neither the College, its administrators, nor its professors have resumed any ordering of the Gibson’s products for College events; and notices still denigrating the Gibsons are posted in College buildings for students and their families to see,” the motion states, according to a copy published by Legal Insurrection.
“Beginning with the College-supported business disruptions that are already in the record
and continuing to the present, Dave Gibson and his surviving widow, Lorna, have been required
to mortgage virtually all of their equity in their home and rental properties to remain viable. The various mortgages are a matter of public record and undoubtedly the Gibsons’ financial distress is known to Oberlin College. Now, Lorna estimates that unless there is a substantial change in circumstances, the bakery may only survive for the next couple of months,” the motion continues.
Sadly, the two family members who served as the lead plaintiffs – David Gibson and his father Allyn – passed away before the decision was upheld, though they did live to see the original verdict. David had previously revealed he had been diagnosed with cancer and said that Oberlin was purposefully dragging out the case.
An appeals court upheld the original verdict, which included the large payment, after Oberlin tried to get it thrown out. The college is now appealing to the Ohio Supreme Court, which hasn’t ruled yet. But the appellate court’s ruling mandated the trial court to “execute” the judgment, as Legal Insurrection reported. The Gibson’s are now asking the trial court to comply.
As The Daily Wire previously reported, several non-white Oberlin students attempted to steal alcohol from Gibson’s, a local bakery with a long history of serving the Oberlin community. A Gibson family member who was working at the bakery that day chased the students out of the store, where they attacked him. He called the police and the students were arrested, pleaded guilty and admitted race had nothing to do with the incident.
But other students and faculty accused the bakery of racism and staged protests outside, with Oberlin officials fully endorsing and supporting the protesters’ (false) narrative. Further, while Oberlin claimed in court the protests were peaceful, some demonstrators actually entered the bakery and harassed customers, taking pictures of them and making disparaging comments to them. They also blocked customers from moving down the aisles and slashed the tires of a store employee.
Behind the scenes, Oberlin administrators trashed the bakery and anyone who defended them, calling defenders “idiots” and saying “F***” them.
The Gibson’s home was broken into months after the protests (though it is unclear whether it was related), with the elderly patriarch breaking bones in his neck. Business dropped and employees were laid-off. The family was threatened.
Jurors sided with the bakery and awarded them $44 million in total damages, an amount that was later reduced to $25 million due to state limits.
Source: Dailywire
