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Oberlin College Furious It Had to Pay $36 Million to Bakery Owners It Slandered as Racists, Now Suing Its Own Insurance Companies

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A leftist college is trying to avoid paying the price, literally, for its actions.

On Sunday, the local newspaper The Chronicle reported that Oberlin College in Ohio was suing four of its insurance providers after they refused to foot the bill for a multimillion-dollar judgment that Gibson’s Bakery won against the school in 2019.

The story began nearly seven years ago in 2016, when three black students at the college attempted to steal wine from the bakery, assaulted a store clerk, and were chased out of shop.

Following the incident and the arrest of the would-be thieves, Oberlin students protested outside Gibson’s Bakery, claiming that the owners were “racist” for their reaction to the attempted shoplifting.

Oberlin College decided to support the protesting students and cut all ties with the bakery. In 2019, a jury awarded the Gibsons $44 million in damages as part of a defamation lawsuit against Oberlin, according to The Associated Press, but a judge reduced it to $25 million.

The interest on the initial payment has since accumulated to $36 million, and the college is demanding that its insurance providers cover it, but are finding out the hard way that it may not happen.

The Chronicle reported that the college is suing Lexington Insurance Company of New York, United Educators Insurance of Bethesda, Maryland, Mount Hawley Insurance Company of Peoria, Illinois, and StarStone Specialty Insurance Company of Cincinnati.

“These policies were intended to provide seamless coverage for lawsuits like the Gibson litigation,” the college alleged, according to The Chronicle.

Should insurance companies cover this judgment?

“Unfortunately, the defendant insurers have failed to pay a penny toward the $36,590,572.48 sum that Oberlin paid the Gibson plaintiffs.”

The college also alleged that Lexington and United Educators had agreed to partially cover the cost, but have done everything they could to avoid paying their end of the bargain.

The story has attracted attention on social media, and Oberlin is not the favorite in the fight.

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It appears as though the leftists who run Oberlin College are still upset about losing the lawsuit, and are determined to do everything they can to avoid the consequences.

This is pretty typical of the left. They cannot admit when they have lost and never want to face any consequences.

The administration and the student government at Oberlin were at the heart of the woke mob that nearly destroyed the livelihood of this hardworking family.

The Gibsons deserved some form of restitution from the college.

According to The Chronicle, Oberlin has paid the family the $36 million.

Now, it’s trying to avoid truly paying the price by getting the money back from the insurance providers.

This is very typical of the left, who are so ready to overlook their own shortcomings, while endlessly chastising conservatives every time that they are in the wrong.

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Peter Partoll is a commentary writer for the Western Journal and a Research Assistant for the Catholic Herald. He earned his bachelor's degree at Hillsdale College and recently finished up his masters degree at Royal Holloway University of London. You can follow him on Twitter at @p_partoll.




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