Ohio bakery awarded $11 million in libel lawsuit against Oberlin College over alleged racial profili [View all]

Ohio bakery awarded $11 million in libel lawsuit against Oberlin College over alleged racial profiling

By Holly Yan and Hollie Silverman, CNN
Updated 2047 GMT (0447 HKT) June 9, 2019

(CNN) — An Ohio jury has ordered Oberlin College to pay $11 million to a bakery which said it was libeled and wrongfully accused of racially profiling students.

The case stems from the November 2016 arrests of three black Oberlin students at Gibson's Bakery and market near the college's campus in Oberlin, Ohio.

One student, Jonathan Aladin, was accused of attempted robbery for allegedly trying to "steal wine or otherwise illegally obtain wine" from the bakery, according to a defamation lawsuit. He would eventually confess in a written statement to buying alcohol illegally.

Two other suspects, Cecelia Whettston and Endia J. Lawrence, were arrested and accused of misdemeanor assault, court documents state.

After that, Oberlin staff members tried to discredit the family-owned bakery, the lawsuit says.

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