Ohio's Oberlin College Loses Appeal Against Bakery Where Black Students Were Accused Of Shoplifting
Oberlin College must pay a $25 million judgment to a local bakery over a 2016 racially-charged shoplifting incident.
On Thursday (March 31), the 9th District Court of Appeals in Akron, Ohio rejected the college’s challenge of a lower court’s ruling in favor of Gibson’s Bakery and Food Mart, the Associated Press reports. The bakery had successfully sued the Cleveland-area liberal arts school for libel.
Oberlin officials said they are reviewing the appeals court ruling “as we evaluate our options and determine next steps.”
In November 2016, Allyn Gibson, the son of the bakery owner, confronted three Black Oberlin students after accusing one of them of shoplifting wine from the store, Cleveland.com reported. Ultimately, the students pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges in 2017.
The arrests prompted protests outside the bakery by Oberlin students, a vice president, and a dean of students who accused the Gibsons of racism, according to the AP. Student leaders also passed a Student Senate resolution that condemned the Gibsons, which they distributed via email and posting it at the school’s student center. School officials apparently joined the protest by ordering the campus food provider to stop purchasing products from the bakery for a month.
A year after the incident, the Gibsons sued Oberlin, alleging libel and harm to their business. A jury sided with the bakery owners and awarded them $44 million in June 2019. However, the trial judge trimmed the award to $25 million.
Both parties challenged a portion of the trial judge’s ruling. The bakery owners unsuccessfully asked the three-judge panel to reinstate the full jury award but won a separate $6.3 million award for legal fees.
