Bakery suing Oberlin College for libel wins $33M in damages

a reply to: Lysergic

dont know if it will make them go broke i think they have a billion dollar endowment so its in the lower end of the percentage of the monies they possess but it will sure sting ,wonder if they will end up raising tuition?

It was a college kid trying to buy alcohol under age, hell it was probably some beer. It this something special? I don't think those situations require putting a kid in a choke hold, just take the fake ID, tell the kid to leave and report it. It seems like something else happened to have that type of response. Was the kid cocky and trying to start trouble after getting denied? Was this a set up to try and get the store in trouble? Was it about a student protest, or was this a way for the college to get out of a contract, both? A lot of questions in my mind.

originally posted by: Metallicus
a reply to: Grimpachi

The school’s faculty actively organized the protest and handed out hundreds of fliers. This is a clear case of libel and since the university’s staff organized and participated in spreading lies they got what they deserved.

They should all share a portion of their salary's. Those faculty that protested this story created it. Any faculty openly against it at the time, or condemning it before the civil case was tried should be allowed to not pay the penalty. Those faculty not participating will likely be seeing their idiot peers replaced.

originally posted by: MichiganSwampBuck
It was a college kid trying to buy alcohol under age, hell it was probably some beer. It this something special? I don't think those situations require putting a kid in a choke hold, just take the fake ID, tell the kid to leave and report it. It seems like something else happened to have that type of response. Was the kid cocky and trying to start trouble after getting denied? Was this a set up to try and get the store in trouble? Was it about a student protest, or was this a way for the college to get out of a contract, both? A lot of questions in my mind.

Did we have a camera roll on how that kid got in a headlock?

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

He tried to walk with the wine.. The link I posted goes into all of it in depth.

Gibson’s Bakery in Oberlin, Ohio, has been in business since 1885.

It sells a variety of baked goods along with wine and other foods.

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.

So as you can see, it's not hard to see how someone might have wound up in a headlock in a multi-person altercation like that.

Not only that, but the police report of the incident indicates that when the police arrived, it was the employee who was in trouble.

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.

That is a quote from the actual police report of the incident which is linked at the link I just posted, and you can find it in the Legal Insurrection link I posted up thread. As you can see, the police report shows that Allyn Gibson, the employee, is the one on the ground being attacked by multiple people when the police arrived, so if the student *was* in a headlock, that was long over and brief.

a reply to: ketsuko

And expanding on what I posted above, had the college itself not gotten involved, this would have remained a simple shoplifting type case and might have gone far differently for all involved.

This “The Hill” article is a lie. It says the grandson of the owner placed the black man in a choke hold because he was trying to purchase alcohol with a fake ID. Complete lie! He went after him because the black man stole from the bakery. The article makes no mention of that. I would sue The Hill for printing this libelous article if I were the owner of the bakery.

Serious problems with the OP...

In November 2016, a black Oberlin student went to Gibson’s Bakery to try to purchase alcohol with a fake ID, The New York Times reported. A white employee, the grandson of the owner, chased the student outside and allegedly placed him in a chokehold.

Quarter-truth...

First, the Gibson employee didn't chase the student out of the store after trying to purchase alcohol with a fake ID.

One student tried to purchase alcohol with a fake ID, then, when caught and refused, the employee noticed two more bottles hidden under their shirt they were trying to steal, and that is when the altercation started - it started with the employee taking a picture of the student and the student slapped the phone out of his hand hitting him in the face - well, read more about the full story here.

While there is no proof - and questions - about whether or not the employee ever got or tried to get the one student in a choke hold, the reality is, all three students were beating on the employee when the police arrived and the police witnessed this.

Oberlin students protested the bakery, accusing the store of racism. They also successfully petitioned the school to ban the shop from supplying its cafeteria.

In November 2017, the bakery sued the college and its dean of students, Meredith Raimondo, for libel.

From the linked article:

"However, Oberlin’s most important defense is far more meritorious. (I should disclose here that I am an Oberlin alum.) The college should not be held legally responsible for statements made by students or faculty who are not speaking for the college as a whole. It is extremely dangerous to expect a college to censor its students, staff or faculty, especially about an important issue such as racism. Punishing the college with huge economic sanctions for a student protest or a student senate resolution does exactly that. This verdict, if it isn’t reversed by an appellate court, provides a powerful incentive for universities to punish and restrict controversial speech."

so guess we see where the appeal goes but not looking good for Oberlin's at the moment . what say ye ATS good or bad?

I say, pretty bad and factually incorrect summation by the OP.

The last part, that tries to argue that the college shouldn't be liable conveniently leaves these details out:

The suit also said Oberlin Vice President and Dean of Students Meredith Raimondo and other college staff members “handed out hundreds of copies” of a flier to the community and the media stating that Gibson’s Bakery and its owners racially profiled and discriminated against the three students.

The court documents include a copy of the flier, which included the words “DON’T BUY.”

“This is a RACIST establishment with a LONG ACCOUNT of RACIAL PROFILING and DISCRIMINATION,” the flier read, according to the lawsuit.

So, sorry, but when the Dean of Students, and other staff members, are actively promoting lies like this even going so far as to be handing out flyers to the community in general (discovery should have found out who made and printed them out, if it was her, even more damning), the school itself should absolutely be held accountable unless it can demonstrate that it took immediate action to remedy the situation (ie, if they had fired the Dean and other staff before the lawsuit was filed).