OBERLIN — In a unanimous Sixth District Court of Appeals ruling, a three-judge panel rejected Oberlin College’s claims and upheld a previous ruling that the college is guilty of defamation. The college will fork over thirty-four million dollars for the family-owned business’s legal fees and damages. The eight-figure disaster serves as a timely lesson to universities and administrators that surrendering to Wokeism and “Cancel Culture” can have very expensive repercussions.
The decision is icing on the cake for Gibson’s Bakery & Candy, which was ambushed by the left-wing liberal arts college for falsely accusing it of being racist. Although the implicated black students admitted their guilt, they still went after the bakery accusing the business for racial profiling.
In 2016, a bakery employee chased down and tackled a black student, Jonathan Aladin, who he suspected stealing a bottle of wine. Two friends of the individual who stole the bottle of wine, became involved in the physical incident. All three students were arrested, According to court documents, Aladin pleaded guilty to attempted theft and aggravated trespass charges.
Fueling the flames was the College’s Dean of Students, Meredith Raimondo, who distributed leaflets accusing the bakery of ‘racist practices.’ Raimondo orchestrated a woke mob into slandering the family as racists for calling the police on three black students for shoplifting a bottle of wine.
Even after Aladin pled guilty and admitted Gibson’s Bakery had no racial motives, Raimondo remained employed by Oberlin College through 2021 when she later transferred to Oglethorpe College in Georgia.
“The impact of our case is not just limited to our town or even Ohio. While I am shocked at the national attention our case has received, I guess it should be no surprise. The fight has always been about sending the message that the truth still matters. And doing the right thing is important, even when it is difficult.”
David Gibson, business owner
The bakery’s owners sued Oberlin College in 2017, claiming that the school had libeled them and said that their business was harmed by their actions.
Beyond Raimondo, a Student Senate resolution condemned the bakery in a campus-wide email and posted the slander in a display case at the student center for over a year. University President Carmen Twillie Ambar also ordered food providers to halt all food purchases from the bakery.
Since 2016, two of the plaintiffs from the bakery have now died: David Gibson at age 65 and Allyn Gibson at age 93.
(Photo courtesy of Gibson Bakery & Candy/Facebook)
Presently, no apologies have been given to the business and the college has not acknowledged their error.
In a public statement during the court case, bakery owner David Gibson commented, “The impact of our case is not just limited to our town or even Ohio. While I am shocked at the national attention our case has received, I guess it should be no surprise. The fight has always been about sending the message that the truth still matters. And doing the right thing is important, even when it is difficult.
“Our family is committed to serving the Oberlin community, just as we have over the last one hundred and thirty-four years…Thanks to an American justice system that enables a David to stand up to a Goliath.”
The Bottom Line:
The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 2, “For to the one who pleases him, GOD has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases GOD.”
