An Ohio judge has ordered Oberlin College to post a $36 million bond after it refused to pay the multi-million judgment to Gibson’s Bakery stemming from the family business’s defamation case against the college.
According to a report by Legal Insurrection, an Ohio judge has ordered Oberlin College to post a $36 million bond in response to its refusal to pay Gibson’s Bakery the multi-million judgment owed from a massive defamation lawsuit.
Gibson’s Bakery sued Oberlin College for their role in a smear campaign against the bakery over a shoplifting incident during which three black Oberlin students assaulted the store’s shopkeeper. The students, who pled guilty to the assault, have acknowledged that race played no role in the altercation.
A jury awarded Gibson’s Bakery $44 million in total damages earlier this year. Now, Oberlin College is refusing to pay. Breitbart News reported in June that Oberlin College was confident that the multi-million dollar jury verdict was “not the final outcome” on the matter, heavily implying that the college will appeal the decision.
Court documents from the trial revealed that Oberlin College is facing financial difficulties. During the trial, attorneys for Oberlin argued that the college has seen a significant drop in enrollment over the past five years. In a report that was presented at trial, Oberlin College officials noted that many private colleges might close due to low enrollment.
To make matters worse for Oberlin, they are currently $190 million in debt. This amount is before the $25 million damages judgment and $6.5 million in attorney’s fees that they must pay as a result of the Gibson’s Bakery trial.
The need for such bond is made clear by the College’s own statements about its dire fmancial straits. If the College is to be believed, there is serious concern about its ability to pay this sizeable judgment three years from now. At trial, and in its recent filing, the College represented that there was only $59.1 million of unrestricted endowment funds available to pay any dollar judgment and that $10 million of those funds had already been committed to pay down the College’s existing debt. There remains $190 million of existing debt on the College’s books. The College has also testified that it has a significant operating deficit and that its deficit situation is not sustainable….
Stay tuned to Breitbart News for more updates on this story.
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