LORAIN
COUNTYCOURT
OF
COMMON
PLEAS
LORAIN
COUNTY,
OHIO
TOM
ORLANDO,
ClerkJOURNAL
ENTRY
John
R
Miraldi,Judge
Case
No.
17CV193761
ate
4/22/19
JEANANNE
M
AYOUB
GIBSONBROS
INC
Plaintiff
Plaintiffs
Attorney
330 455-61
VS
JOSH
M
MANDEL
OBERLINCOLLEGE
Defendant sAttorney
Q_
Defendant
ENTRY
ANDRULING
ON
DEFENDANTS
OBERLINCOLLEGE
ANDMEREDITHRAIMONDO S
MOTIONSFOR
SUMMARYJUDGMENT
This
matter
came
to
be
heard
upon
Defendants
Oberlin
College
and
Meredith
Raimondo sMotions
for
Summary
Judgment;
PlaintiffsGibsonBrothers
Inc.,
David
R
Gibson,
and
Allyn
W.
Gibson s
Combined
Response
in
Opposition;
and
Defendants CombinedReply
Brief.
Afterconsideringthe
above
filings,
their
attachedor
referenced
exhibits,and
for
the
reasons
that
follow,
Defendants Motions
for
SummaryJudgment
are
granted
in
part
and
denied
in
part.
Factual
Background
Though
theCourt
is
notrequired
to
make
specific
findings
of
fact
in
ruling
onDefendants Motions
for
SummaryJudgment,
the
Courtbelievesthatthefactuallandscape
is
an
importantfoundation
to
theanalysis
herein.
See
Ohio
Civ.
R
52.
On
the
afternoon
ofNovember
9
2016,
an
incident
took
placeinvolving
three
African-AmericanOberlinCollegeStudents
-
Jonathan
Afadin,
CeceliaWhettstone,
andEndiaLawrence,
and
Allyn
D
Gibson
-
an
employee
of
Plaintiff
GibsonBros.
Inc.,
the
entity
that
operatesGibson s
Food
Market
and
Bakery( Gibson s ).
Allyn
D
Gibson
suspected
that
Mr.
Aladinwasattempting
to
steal
winefromGibson swhilepurchasing
other
wine
with
fake
identification.
Afterconfronting
Mr.
Aladin
in
the
store,
Mr.
Gibsonpursued
Mr.
Aladinoutof
thestore
into
nearby
Tappan
Square,
andat
some
point,
engaged
in
a
physicalaltercation
with
Mr
Aladin.
The
detailsofthe
physical
altercation
are
in
dispute,but
as
a
result
of
thephysical
altercation,
Mr.
Gibsondetained
Mr.
Aladin
until
OberlinPoliceofficers
arrived
on
scene.
fo
O
pf
Thethreestudents
were
theonlyindividualsarrested.
On
August
11
2017,
Mr.
Aladin
pled
to
attempted
theft,
aggravatedtrespass,
and
underageconsumption
in
Lorain
CountyCommon
PleasCase
No.
17CR096081.On
thesame
date,Ms.
Lawrence
and
Ms.
Whettstone
bothpledtoattempted
theft
and
aggravatedtrespass
in
Lorain
County
Court
of
Common
PleasCase
Nos.
17CR096083
and
17CR096082
respectively.
On
the
evening
of
November
9,
2016,
effortswere
made
to
organize
a
protest
outside
Gibson's
Food
Market
and
Bakerythefollowing
day.
MembersofOberlin
College
Staff
and
Administrationwere
madeaware
oftheseefforts,
andDean
of
Students
and
named
Defendant,MeredithRaimondocommunicatedwith
other
faculty
and
staffmembersabout
having
a
meeting
on
November
10
2016
in
advance
of
the
scheduled
protests.
Some
of
theindividuals
included
in
that
communicationwere
present
at
theprotests.
Themorning
of
November
10
2016,Oberlin
Collegecommunityaffairs
liaison,
Tita
Reed,notified
theOberlin
Police
Department
and
other
local
businessesof
thecoming
protests.
The
protestsbegan
on
November
10
2016at
approximately
11:00AM
and
proceeded
forapproximately
twodays.Present
atthe
protestsweremembers
of
themedia
and
general
public,
police
officers,
and
an
estimated
crowd
of
a
few
hundredpeople
thatincludedOberlinCollegestudents
as
wellas
somemembersof
Oberlin
College's
faculty,
staff,and
administration,
included
amongthosepresentwas
Dean
Meredith
Raimondo,
a
party
to
this
lawsuit.
Duringtheprotest,
protesters
heldsigns,
chanted,
and
distributed
a
flyer
that
stated
in
part
that
Gibson's
is
a
RACIST
establishmentwith
a
LONG
ACCOUNTof
RACIALPROFILING
and
DISCRIMINATION.
Some
of
the
specific
facts
regarding
distribution
of
the
flyer
are
in
dispute,
but
deposition
testimony
waspresented
indicatingprotestersandOberlin
College
staff
distributed
copies
of
the
flyer
and/or
utilizedcollege
copy
machines
tomake
additional
copies
ofthe
flyer.
Alsoduringthe
protests,MeredithRaimondo
handed
a
copy
of
the
flyer
to
Jason
Hawk,
a
reporterfromthe
OberlinNews
ribune
On
November
10
2016membersof
theOberlin
Student
Senatereleased
a
written
resolution
that
stated
in
part
that Gibson's
has
a
historyof
racialprofilingand
discriminatorytreatment
of
students
and
residentsalike
[...].
Theresolutioncalled
uponOberlin
Collegestudents
to
stop
supporting
Gibson s
Food
Market
andBakery.
It
also
calledupon
thencollege
President
Marvin
Krislov
and
Dean
ofStudents
Meredith
Raimondo
to
condemn
by
writtenpromulgationthe
treatment
of
students
of
color
by
Gibson's
Food
Market
and
Bakery
Following
its
release,
the
resolution
was
posted
in
Wilder
Hail
onOberlin
College'sCampus
for
a
period
of
atleastone
year.
2
ooU£L<£
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z
fo
sJOHIO*
ZS
On
November
11,
2016,MarvinKrislov
and
Meredith
Raimondosent
a
joint
statement
viaemail
toall
OberiinCollegestudents
that
outlined
the
administration's
plan
to
address
the
events
of
November
9,
2016.
On
November
12,
2016thethen-department
head
for
OberiinCollegeDepartment
of
AfricanaStudiespublished
a
FacebookPost
on
the
department's
Facebook
page
that
read:
VeryVery
proud
of
our
students
Gibson's
has
beenbad
for
decades,
their
dislike
for
Blackpeople
is
palpable.
Their
food
is
rotten
and
theyprofile
Blackstudents.
NO
MORE
From
November
14,
2016throughJanuary
30,
2017
OberiinCollege
suspended
all
businesswithGibson's.
This
included
a
prohibition
of
purchasingGibson's
items
withanycollege
funds,
and
prohibited
business
between
Gibson's
andOberiin
College
Dining
Servicesor
Bon
Appetit
Management
Company,
a
separate
foodservice
provider
for
Oberiin
College.
On
^anuar^
30,
2017,
Oberiin
College
resumedbusinesswith
Gibson's
until
the
instant
lawsuit
was
filed
on
November
7,
2017.
Plaintiffseight
(8)
countcomplaint
asserted
thefollowingcauses
of
action
against
OberiinCollege
and
Meredith
Raimondo,
theCollege'sVicePresident
and
Dean
of
Students:
Count
1:
Libel
Count
2:
Slander
Count
3:
TortiousInterference
with
BusinessRelationships
Count
4:
TortiousInterference
with
ContractsCount
5:
Deceptive
Trade
Practices
Count
6:
Intentional
Infliction
of
EmotionalDistress
Count
7:
Negligent
Hiring,Retention,
and
Supervision
Count
8:
Trespass
After
voluminousdiscovery,Defendants
filed
Motions
forSummary
Judgment
seeking
judgment
in
their
favor
on
all
theabove
claims.1
Defendant
Meredith
Raimondoseparately
filed
a
Motion
for
SummaryJudgmentthat
shares
exhibits
withOberiin
College's
motion.
In
fact,
though
filedseparately,OberiinCollege's
motion
actually
incorporatesRaimondo'smotion
by
reference.
The
arguments
of
both
Defendants'motions
are
addressed
herein.
3