Oberlin College Forced To Pay Local Bakery $11 Million In Racial Hoax Defamation Case

[ELB]

The $25M capped award was later paired with a $6.5M lawyers' fee, for a total of $31.5M and change.

Oberlin immediately applied for a stay of the judgments while they appeal the decisions.

The law provides for interest accruing as long as the judgment is unpaid, while the appeals go on. Estimated interest is over $4k per day.

Oberlin presented itself as being in dire financial shape during the trial, so the Gibsons are afraid that once the appeals are done, there will be nothing left to collect if the appeals are in their favor.

Gibson's lawyers estimate that the appeals process will take about three years, so they asked the judge to require Oberlin to put up a bond for over $36M, which would cover the original award plus three years of interest.

The judge did so: https://legalinsurrection.com/2019/07/o ... -judgment/

[Stick_Shift]

https://www.oberlin.edu/investment/assets

Oberlin College has an endowment worth something north of $800M.

They'll be fine. Pay up.

[ELB]

Apparently the endowments are not necessarily convertible to cash to pay the judgment. The Gibsons' attorneys used financial figures that Oberlin provided to the court:

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. [Trial Tr., June 12, 2019 at 95:13-21] There remains $190 million of existing debt on the College’s books. [Id.] The College has also testified that it has a significant operating deficit and that its deficit situation is not sustainable…. [Trial Tr., June 12, 2019 atpp. 86:1-6, 88:1-9]

The College also testified at trial that they have experienced a “significant” and “steady” decline of enrollment from 2014 to 2018. [Trial Tr., June 12, 2019 at 79:4-17] In describing their economic position, the College offered Exhibit N-33 at trial, which is its May 10, 2019 report entitled “One Oberlin: The Academic & Administrative Program Review Final Report.” [Trial Tr., June 12, 2019 at pp. 99-100] In that Report, the College describes its alleged financial hardships and warns about how many other private colleges have had to close due to financial difficulties …[Ex. N-33, pp. 4-5].

Thus, we know that Oberlin College could attempt to continue using its available funds to pay down its other debts between now and the filing of a notice of appeal, thereby leaving less available to pay the judgment in this case.

If Oberlin was lying about their financial status, then that came back to bite them in that they now have to pay for bond. Also, I would guess that the representations they made to the court about their financial status were done so under oath, so I would think Oberlin and their attorneys would be risking civil and criminal charges if they misrepresented the situation.

[ELB]

David Gibson, the named plaintiff and head of the bakery, has died from pancreatic cancer.

https://legalinsurrection.com/2019/11/d ... ssed-away/

https://www.cowlingfuneralhomeoh.com/no ... vid-Gibson

[TreyHouston]

That sucks! RIP my non racist friend! You good name is cleared