Oberlin Loses Appeal After Defaming Local Bakery

An appellate court this week upheld a lower court’s ruling that a local bakery was defamed by Oberlin College, a private liberal arts school in Ohio.

In 2019, Oberlin was ordered to pay the maximum of $11 million in compensatory damages, $33 million in punitive damages, plus more than $6 million in attorneys fees to Gibson’s Bakery, a town staple that had served students at the school for generations, and even had a contract to sell some of its products to the school.

That came after a jury decided that Oberlin and its staff had defamed the bakery.

Gibson’s made the “mistake” of protecting its store from a shoplifter in November of 2016. The shoplifter, who happened to be black, was confronted by a store clerk who was a Gibson family member, leading to a scuffle between the shoplifter and two black female assailants. All three eventually pleaded guilty to shoplifting and aggravated trespassing.

But Gibson’s Bakery was painted as “racist” after the incident, which occurred just a day after former President Donald J. Trump’s election when tensions were high nationwide.

The university, including Dean of Students Meredith Raimondo, helped organize boycotts and protests of the bakery, and labeled it “racist.”

“It took a lot of guts on their part. They’ve made it so that we have the chance and the opportunity to keep the lights on,” said owner David Gibson upon winning the case in 2019. “They’ve given us an opportunity to keep the lights on for another generation.”

Oberlin appealed the ruling, but the appellate court rejected the college and affirmed the lower court’s ruling.

During the ordeal, David Gibson, who inherited the business from his father Allyn Gibson, was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Before he passed away in 2019, he accused Oberlin of trying to wait out the death of him and his father Allyn, who was 91 at the time.

Allyn Gibson died in February at age 93.

In a statement to Legal Insurrection, Oberlin’s media relations director Scott Wargo said the following:

Oberlin is obviously disappointed that the appeals court affirmed the judgment in its ruling earlier today. We are reviewing the Court’s opinion carefully as we evaluate our options and determine next steps.

In the meantime, we recognize that the issues raised by this case have been challenging, not only for the parties involved in the lawsuit, but for the entire Oberlin community. We remain committed to strengthening the partnership between the College, the City of Oberlin and its residents, and the downtown business community.  We will continue in that important work while remaining focused on our core educational mission.

The school has never apologized to the Gibson family.

Wargo repeated the same message to The Ohio Star on Friday, but did not respond when asked if the school would apologize to the Gibsons.

_ _ _

Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Gibson’s Bakery and Candy Shop” by Gibson’s Bakery and Candy.