Ohio Supreme Court Sides With Oberlin: College Doesn’t Need to Pay Slander Damages Until Appeals Are Done

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled this week that Oberlin College does not have to pay the $36 million judgment it owes to a mom-and-pop bakery that the school slandered as racist while the appeals process plays out.

While the Tuesday ruling doesn’t mean that the woke college is off the hook, Oberlin is not obligated to pay Gibson’s Bakery while the ruling against the school is appealed, according to a report by Cleveland.com.

The appeal is being heard by the Ohio Supreme Court after two lower courts rejected the college’s initial attempts to get out of paying the family-owned business, which Oberlin falsely accused of racism.

In a motion to the court, Oberlin reportedly cited state law and Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure as evidence that it didn’t need to pay the huge judgement at this time.

Oberlin said in its motion that the bakery’s “efforts to execute on the bond are premature, including because the bond, by its terms, does not become collectible before the exhaustion of all appeals.”

The Gibson family disagrees, saying they “have correctly completed every step necessary to properly execute on its judgment and collect on the surety bond in this case.”

“All that is left is for the surety to make the payment,” The Gibson’s said. “Belatedly realizing their error, Oberlin asks this Court to come to its rescue. The Court should not.”

The college was initially ordered to pay the 137-year-old bakery $33 million for defamation damages in 2019 after Meredith Raimondo — now an ex-dean — orchestrated a woke mob into slandering the family as racists for calling the police on three black students for allegedly shoplifting a bottle of wine.

Last month, Oberlin was reported to be facing $4 million in interest charges after refusing to pay $33 million in court-ordered defamation damages to the bakery. With the interest, the total now is just over $36 million.

While Oberlin refuses to pay Gibson’s Bakery, the business is struggling to survive after college students and Raimondo falsely accused the family of racism. Moreover, Gibson’s Bakery owner Allyn Gibson and his son, David Gibson, have since passed while the family awaits the millions that they were awarded.

The Ohio Supreme Court has reportedly not given any indication of a date for when it will decide whether to hear appeals in the case.

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.