Court rejects Oberlin College, Gibson's Bakery appeals

The Ninth District Court of Appeals in Akron has upheld all of Lorain County Common Pleas Judge John Miraldi's rulings in the long-running civil case of Gibson's Bakery versus Oberlin College. In a 50-page ruling on dueling appeals filed by Oberlin College and the Gibsons that was released Thursday, judges Donna Carr, Jennifer Hensal and Betty Sutton overruled three issues appealed by the college and one by the bakery. The judges rejected a claim by the college that Miraldi improperly denied its motions asking the court to rule in its favor and to reject the jury's unanimous findings of liability against the college. The appeals court also rejected the college's argument that Miraldi was wrong to deny it a new trial; failed to cap punitive and compensatory damages of more than $25 million; and improperly enhanced attorney fees he ordered the college to pay to the Gibsons' attorneys. It was up to Oberlin College to show that Miraldi made mistakes in his rulings, which it did not, the judges found, with Carr writing that the appeals court "will not make an argument for Oberlin." Miraldi properly calculated attorney fees totaling almost $6.3 million to be paid by Oberlin College to the Gibsons. That calculation was based on the skills of the attorneys involved, the time and labor involved and the difficulty of the issues in the case, the appeals court found when it rejected Oberlin College's challenge to paying. The jury originally awarded the Gibsons more than $11 million in compensatory damages and $33 million in punitive damages, for a total of $44 million against Oberlin College. In June 2019, Miraldi cited Ohio law when he capped those damages at just over $25 million, making Oberlin College responsible for just over $31 million payable to the Gibsons. The Gibsons also appealed the damages award, saying the amount money it was awarded it didn't sufficiently punish the college for its behavior, but the appeals court rejected that argument. This is a developing story. Read The Chronicle-Telegram for more.