The payment settles a six-year saga that began in November 2016, when an employee of Gibson’s Bakery chased down a Black student he believed had stolen a bottle of wine from the store. Two fellow Black students who tried to intervene in the matter were arrested and all three pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges, according to WKYC television.
Yet protests erupted over the arrest. Students handed out flyers accusing the bakery of being racist, with participation by an Oberlin College vice president and dean of students. The college ordered its campus food provider to stop ordering from the bakery and a student resolution condemning the bakery as racist was emailed to students and posted at the student center.
Gibson’s Bakery filed suit in November 2017, accusing the college of slandering it as a “racist establishment,” and a Lorain County jury awarded it $44 million in damages, though a judge reduced the amount to $25 million.
The $36.59 million payment reflects “awarded damages and accumulated interest, and therefore no further payments are required,” the college said.
The college said it values its relationship with the city of Oberlin and will support local businesses. It also said it can weather the financial impact of the payment.
A statement from the bakery read, “We are happy to hear that full payment on the judgment is forthcoming, allowing the 137-year-old Gibson’s Bakery to move forward continuing to serve its community.