{"id":28890,"date":"2019-06-18T06:09:03","date_gmt":"2019-06-18T10:09:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/angry.net\/blog2\/?p=28890"},"modified":"2019-06-18T06:09:03","modified_gmt":"2019-06-18T10:09:03","slug":"oberlin-suffers-one-two-punch-to-the-bank-account","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/angry.net\/blog2\/?p=28890","title":{"rendered":"Oberlin suffers one two punch to the bank account"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good day all. Last week I wrote about Oberlin College<\/a> loosing a lawsuit filed by a local bakery and being ordered to pay $11 million dollars in damages. In the initial judgment, the jury found that there was malice in the actions of Oberlin and several staff members. This led to a second hearing on punitive damages.<\/p>\n

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Well, the hearing has been held and Oberlin was socked with another $33 million dollars in punitive damages. This was immediately reduced to $22 million due to the laws of the state of Ohio. Still, it\u2019s a nice hit to the Socialist Totalitarian Justice Warriors and their backers. Here are some of the details from Legal Insurrection<\/b><\/a>:<\/p>\n

The jury just rendered its verdict on punitive damages in the Gibson\u2019s Bakery v. Oberlin College case. <\/b><\/p>\n

Daniel McGraw, our reporter in the courtroom, reports that in addition to the $11.2 million compensatory damages awarded last Friday, the jury awarded a total of $33 million in punitive damages, which will probably be reduced by the court to $22 million because of the state law cap at twice compensatory (it\u2019s not an absolute cap, but probably will apply here). That brings the total damages to $33 million. We will have the breakdown soon. The jury also awarded attorney\u2019s fees, to be determined by the judge. <\/b><\/p>\n

The breakdown was:<\/b><\/p>\n

David Gibson \u2013 $17.5 million punitive damages<\/b><\/p>\n

Allyn W. Gibson \u2014 $8.75 million punitive damages<\/b><\/p>\n

Gibson Bros. Inc. (the Bakery) \u2013 $6,973,500 punitive damages<\/b><\/p>\n

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The fact that the jury not only awarded the maximum under Ohio law, but went over that by a third is significant. Yes that award will be reduced to the maximum allowed, but the hit on attorney\u2019s fees may add another million or two to the cash Oberlin is going to have to fork over.<\/p>\n

The Gibson family was visibly shocked by the amount, as most in the courtroom were thinking the jury\u2019s final punitive damages verdict in the case might top out at maybe $10 million. The fact that it was triple that amount means in many ways that perhaps the jury understood that the whole country was watching. <\/b><\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t help that the college\u2019s lawyer sent out a letter that basically called the jurors morons. I believe that was entered into evidence in this hearing as well.<\/p>\n

Some of the defenders of Oberlin College have claimed that the Gibsons\u2019 were just in it for punishment on this case, and never tried to settle. That could not be further from the truth. According to Lee Plakas, lead attorney for the Gibsons\u2019, a letter was sent before the case was filed in Nov. of 2017 asking for at least some talks on settlement and no answer was sent back (this reporter has seen it). <\/b><\/p>\n

Never underestimate the blind stupidity of arrogant Progressive lawyers and college administrators.<\/p>\n

In early 2018, according to Plakas, two days of talks with a mediator were done, but nothing close to a settlement was achieved. In fact, the talks were initiated by the Gibson\u2019s and \u201cWe were ready, willing and able to not have this case go to trial, but Oberlin College and their insurance company seemed to have no interest in settling this case,\u201d Plakas said. <\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cAs they have done throughout this case, they thought that they were above everyone else, and that the rules and working to settle such an egregious case of defaming a good family like the Gibsons\u2019 was beneath them,\u201d he added. <\/b><\/p>\n

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Excuse me? I hadn\u2019t heard about the Insurance company not having any interest in settling the case. Of course, after last week\u2019s verdict, the Insurance company told Oberlin that they weren\u2019t going to cover the judgment and if they didn\u2019t like it, they could perform a highly intricate aerobatic maneuver at a rotating fried breakfast pastry. As for the Gibson\u2019s lawyers, normally they would get one third to one half of the judgment. Not this time.<\/p>\n

The jury said that the attorneys\u2019 fees that Gibsons\u2019 would have had to pay out of its verdict awards (often at 30% of jury verdict awards), would now have to be paid by Oberlin College. That could be an additional $10 million put on the school\u2019s plate. Judge Miraldi will decide that as well, not any jury. <\/b><\/p>\n

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Here\u2019s hoping the judge really sticks it to Oberlin, within the letter of the law of course. We don\u2019t want to give Oberlin any hope of winning on appeal, and it looks like the Judge has the same idea as well.<\/p>\n

For those who have speculated that these jury verdicts will be pared down substantially or denied by an appeals court, that also is not good speculation. Yes, there will likely be appeals, but in order to win an appeal in a civil tort case, Oberlin College would have to prove that Judge Miraldi and the jury made egregious decision that went against Ohio law. For those of us in the courtroom, and for legal observers who know more about this than me, appeals reversals are unlikely. And Miraldi was very careful in setting the bar pretty high on evidentiary rulings. <\/b><\/p>\n

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So…basically Oberlin is screwed, blued and tattooed. Good. (Care to guess who will never be on a jury hearing a similar case?) It also didn\u2019t hurt that the Gibson\u2019s landed a really good lawyer.<\/p>\n

In the end, this was a case that will be one that is pointed to as a \u201ctipping point\u201d of sorts. <\/b><\/p>\n

Really? How so?<\/p>\n

Plakas repeatedly told the jury that this was bigger than them, and that they could make a statement to the country \u201cthat this type of behavior is unacceptable to any community because a big collegiate institution like Oberlin College has a responsibility to their community and neighbors, and not just to themselves.\u201d <\/b><\/p>\n

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The problem with Oberlin, like pretty much all of the colleges and universities these days, is that they have become a hard left political indoctrination run and controlled by Marxists, people who have never had to actually deal with the real world.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat [Oberlin College] did to the Gibsons\u2019 was irrational \u2026 and that part of it really angered me as just a private person who saw what was happening to the Gibsons. You would expect a highly regarded university, with a long history of being a great school in this country, would have disregarded what we would think of as a basic thought process,\u201d Plakas continued.<\/b><\/p>\n

The level of hate and threats coming from the left, and being willfully promulgated by these so called \u201cCenters of Higher Learning\u201d is reaching dangerous levels. When I say dangerous, I mean the threats of violence coming from the people going to these \u201cschools\u201d is reaching a tipping point.<\/p>\n

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We have seen how the left, since President Trump won, have flat out assaulted anyone they perceived as \u201cNot sufficiently woke\u201d enough. To date, the people they have been attacking have shown remarkable restraint, but those days are probably coming to an end. It\u2019s only a matter of time before someone being attacked by one of these \u201cSocial Justice\u201d mobs truly fears for his or her life and pulls a gun and open fires.<\/p>\n

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This judgment should send a wake up call to all the colleges and universities. Continue with your political indoctrination over actual education, and you may find yourselves being sued into oblivion. Personally, I think it\u2019s time to start going after these groups, organizations and individuals and ruin them financially. Perhaps then, the others might stop and think about the repercussions of their actions.<\/p>\n

Thatisall<\/p>\n\"1\"2\"3\"4\"5 (1<\/strong> votes, average: 5.00<\/strong> out of 5)
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