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Oberlin College has to pay a family-owned bakery $36 million after they said they were “racist.”
Oberlin College said last Thursday that it would pay $36.59 million to a bakery that said it had been defamed and accused of racism after their worker caught a Black student shoplifting.
The school tried to appeal the judgment. In August, an Ohio Supreme Court ruled that it wouldn’t take up the school’s appeal.
The college said in a statement:
We are disappointed by the Court’s decision. However, this does not diminish our respect for the law and the integrity of our legal system.
The incident started when a student tried to buy a bottle of wine with a fake ID, but was hiding two more bottles under his coat.
A son and grandson of the owner, Allyn Gibson, chased the student out into the street where two of his other friends were. The students later pleaded guilty to several charges.
NBC News reported:
The case stems from the arrests of students Jonathan Aladin, Cecelia Whettston, and Endia J. Lawrence on Nov. 9, 2016.
According to a 2017 defamation lawsuit that Gibson’s Bakery filed against the school, Aladin tried to “steal wine or otherwise illegally obtain wine” with fake identification. The bakery has a small section that sells wines and beer, according to Rolling Stone.
Aladin was charged with robbery, the lawsuit states. Whettston and Lawrence were each charged with first-degree misdemeanor assault, the lawsuit states.
That incident led to two days of protests. According to court papers, hundreds of students gathered in front of the bakery, saying they were racially profiling their customers.
The lawsuit filed by the Gibsons said that Oberlin defamed the bakery when the dean of students, Meredith Raimondo, and other members of the administration, took sides in the matter by attending the protests. Fliers were strewn around saying the bakery was a “RACIST establishment with a LONG ACCOUNT OF RACIAL PROFILING and DISCRIMINATION.”
“Today we urge you to shop elsewhere in light of a particularly heinous event involving the owners of this establishment and local law enforcement,” the flyer read, according to the suit.
Gibson also mentioned that Oberlin stopped ordering from their bakery, but offered to restore its business if charges were dropped against the students. The bakery refused.
The bakery stated in the suit that its employees were threatened and some of their car tires had been punctured because of the school’s claims. The owner David Gibson’s home was also damaged on more than one occasion.
Aladdin read a statement in court and admitted to trying to purchase alcohol with a fake ID and also said that he didn’t believe the actions taken by the employees were racially motivated.
When the clerk recognized the fake ID, I struggled with the clerk to recover the fake ID,” Aladin said, according to the lawsuit. “The clerk was within his legal rights to detain me, and I regret presenting a fake ID in an attempt to obtain alcohol. This unfortunate incident was triggered by my attempt to purchase alcohol.”
“We hope that the end of the litigation will begin the healing of our entire community,” the school said. “We value our relationship with the City of Oberlin, and we look forward to continuing our support of and partnership with local businesses as we work together to help our city thrive.”
