@StJohnny, Hispanic is an ethnicity, not a race. According to the US Census Bureau, Hispanics can be of any race.
The three involved students read statements acknowledging that their race had nothing to do with the incident. I don’t think further breaking down the racial make up of those 32 “white “ shoplifters was going to change anything for the defense. Oberlin was wrong, looks even more stupid at this point by refusing to acknowledge any wrongdoing and is going to pay the price. So happy for this family.
Ohio law caps punitive damages at 2x compensatory damages. So Oberlin is facing the possibility of $33M in overall liability. Without insurance coverage - and you can bet that will be subject to legal proceedings as well, . This case will be treated in legal education as how not defend a lawsuit.
Or maybe how not to act as a college administrator? Avoid intentional torts. Pretty basic.
Link to initial complaint filed by the Gibsons.
http://cdn.cnn.com/cnn/2019/images/06/09/gibson.bakery.v.oberlin.college.lawsuit.pdf
Interesting that an Oberlin trustee paid for the 3 students’ legal fees after they were arrested, and the college paid for a limo service to take Aladin (one of the students arrested) to Columbus to meet with a defense attorney.
Also, this allegation is appalling:
Additionally, Defendants promoted such a hostile environment against Plaintiffs that certain persons came to the apartment of Allyn W. Gibson, who is 89 years-old, late one night and loudly banged on his door and windows while he slept. During that incident, Allyn Gibson, who feared for his safety, was startled and fell as he was attempting to determine who was banging on his door and windows. That fall caused him to suffer life threatening injuries, including a broken neck and multiple fractured vertebrae. Allyn Gibson required an extended hospital stay and will require the use of a neck brace for the rest of his life.
I would think that this lawsuit would actually help Oberlin among progressives.
The lawsuit loss is a disaster for Oberlin. Monetarily, it’s a small % of their endowment, though punitive amounts still not announced, so jury literally out on that. But the publicity is damaging.
That Oberlin provided counsel and paid for it for those students who admitted to what they did does tend to erase doubt on what happened here. Many times, when you can’t afford a lawyer, when not well represent, people plead guilty and part of that process involves total capitulation. Whether you are guilty or not, sometimes you have to go that route because too much is at stake in terms of finances and ability to handle the situation. This is not the case here
More on this in the June 10 Washington Post:
" Protests at Oberlin labeled a bakery racist. Now, the college will pay $11 million for libel."
This story just hit CNN, WaPo, and the NY Times this morning. It is just starting to gather steam.
There is the possibility that this will help Oberlin among the extreme hard left. The problem is that there isn’t enough of them willing to pay for Oberlin or having offspring who can be admitted. This is damaging to Oberlin’s business model, and I think irrevocably so. Oberlin in many quarters prior to this incident was an iffy value proposition. This inexcusable incident only makes it worse.
@willowglen I consider myself on the progressive side of things but I am appalled. I won’t even let my S21 consider Oberlin now. Though, to be fair, we weren’t likely to consider it anyway, but this cements the decision.
I didn’t follow this story at the time but apparently the bakery employee who chased the shoplifters out of the store and was then beat up also was black.
^The store employee who tried to stop the shoplifter is the son of the owner and is white. The store employee who called 911 when the students started beating up the store owner’s son is black.
My S applied, auditioned for and was accepted with large scholarship to Oberlin Music Conservatory this year. After doing a little more research on the school and reading about this incident and how the administration handled it and the overall demeanor of the school we took a hard pass. I would imagine we were not the only family to do so.
Just as it is possible that it was a fair and just conclusion to penalize the school, it is possible that this was the result of lawyers targeting the party with deep pockets and succeeding in picking a biased jury. Never fully trust the American justice system.
Wondering what those Oberlin families are thinking that are full pay at about 75 thousand or near it.
Looks like Oberlin is left eating humble pie on this one. Maybe Gibson’s should start selling humble pie as a product to underscore the lesson for the SJW’s at the college.
And Meredith Raimondo needs to be removed from her position as she seems to be the main instigator even though Oberlin claims not.
If it was proven that she had a hand in creating the flyers, etc, she should have been subpoenaed as well. And she should be liable for part of the damages.
Humble pie baked from crows is so appropriate for this.
I thought that Berkeley was a hotbed of strangeness, but Oberlin is definitely trying its best to be the Berkeley of the Midwest. And not in a good way. Good that the jury ruled for the bakery.
Leiden - one could speculate endlessly about jury outcomes in this country - one reason large institutions avoid jury trials. I am sure you make the same statements when corporations get socked with large damage awards, because, well juries can biased in those cases, too. The academic industrial class is very powerful, and woe be to those who challenge it. But speculation about the jury in this case means nothing. The 11 million dollar compensatory damage award didn’t rain down on Oberlin randomly. They earned every bit of this by numerous dumb decisions, all fueled by a belief they were superior to working class people in the town. The reporter from Legal Insurrection - albeit a conservative site - last night provided an unemotional piece last night about Oberlin’s plight. They have a challenging business model, without enough paying students who see the value in what they are selling today. The school acts accordingly and foolishly coddles their students, and the result is what we see here. As to any bias, well, working people do come across and interact with the hard left (to be distinguished by liberals, who focus on due process and individual rights) infrequently, and his jury verdict is a reflection of what they think of the hard academic left when forced to interact with them. It isn’t pretty.