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Oberlin College – Gibson’s Bakery Tag

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 08, 2019 67 Comments
Do you believe in coincidences? This may just be a huge coincidence, but it certainly is another very curious twist in the Gibson's Bakery v. Oberlin College case. You may recall that in late August 2019, two months after the trial which ended disastrously for Oberlin College, the college unsuccessfully sought to unseal the confidential Facebook records of Allyn D. Gibson. The issue is back again before the trial court with Cleveland media groups seeking a redo of Oberlin College's failed motion, under the guise of freedom of the press.  But why?

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 03, 2019 128 Comments
One of the most disturbing aspects of the Gibson's Bakery v. Oberlin College case has been the almost obsessive demonization of Gibson's Bakery and its owners by the college. It started not just during the protests and pre-litigation interactions that gave rise to the lawsuit, but in the Answer filed by the defendants in response to the lawsuit.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 23, 2019 43 Comments
Two weeks ago, Oberlin College and its Dean of Students, Meredith Raimondo filed their appeal from the two jury verdicts in favor of Gibson's Bakery and its owners : $11 million compensatory damages rendered on June 7, 2019, and $33 million in punitive damages rendered on June 13, 2019, after a separate punitive damages trial.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 24, 2019 48 Comments
There have been many strange motions and actions in the Gibson's Bakery v. Oberlin College case. A post-trial motion by Oberlin College to unseal Facebook records may be one of the more strange developments, and offers a window into the bitter feelings of college officials. Allyn D. Gibson (Allyn D.) is the grandson of plaintiff Allyn W. Gibson ("Allyn W.") and the son of plaintiff David Gibson. Allyn D., who was not a party in the lawsuit, was the store clerk on duty who caught an Oberlin College student shoplifting.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 08, 2019 66 Comments
The Gibson's Bakery v. Oberlin College lawsuit has entered two post-trial phases: (1) Post-trial motions then appeals, and (2) public relations. As part of this jockeying, Oberlin College's president Carmen Twillie Ambar has written op-eds and given interviews in which she asserts that Oberlin College was held responsible for the speech of students. This, she argues, presents a threat to campus 1st Amendment rights because it could force universities to clamp down on student speech to avoid liability.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 06, 2019 62 Comments
David Gibson, one of the owners of Gibson's Bakery and a plaintiff in the lawsuit that yielded almost $32 million in damages against Oberlin College, has just posted a video on Facebook announcing that he has pancreatic cancer. (h/t to multiple readers for alerting me) In the video (below), David says that Oberlin College has known about his illness for several months, and made a motion in court to keep that information away from jurors.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 24, 2019 77 Comments
The compensatory and punitive damages of $25 million (after reduction for tort reform caps), plus the over $6.5 million in attorney's fees and costs, put Oberlin College almost $32 million in debt to Gibson's Bakery and its owners. Absent some judicial action, the next step would have been for the Gibsons to execute on the judgment, meaning start collecting the money through post-judgment remedies, such as seizing bank accounts and physical property.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 19, 2019 174 Comments
The $25 million damages judgment plus the over $6.5 million attorney's fees and expenses award, puts Oberlin College almost $32 million in debt to Gibson's Bakery and its owners. Post-judgment interest in Ohio is 5%, which if my math is correct, on $32 million equals $1.6 million a year just in interest, or $4,384 per day. So that $32 million is going to keep growing as the inevitable appeal winds its way through the courts.
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