The dispute began on November 9, 2016, when an Oberlin student tried to shoplift two bottles of wine from the bakery. The student also had a fake ID. A Gibson’s employee (son and grandson of the owners) tried to stop the student-shoplifter. With the aid of two friends, the student assaulted the employee, Allyn Gibson, when the latter tried to stop him from leaving the store with the shoplifted items. The three students, all of whom are African-American, were arrested. All three eventually pleaded guilty, admitted that Gibson’s was not racist, paid restitution, and received no prison time.

Meanwhile, Oberlin students, faculty, and staff protested against Gibson’s for allegedly having racially-profiled the students. In this effort, they were spurred on by college administrative staff, in particular by Oberlin’s former Dean of Students, Meredith Raimondo. The Oberlin College community, including the college itself, started to boycott Gibson’s. Oberlin continued the boycott and refused to concede that the students rather than Gibson’s were at fault. Because of this persecution, Gibson’s came perilously close to going out of business.

On November 7, 2017, Gibson’s sued Oberlin and former Dean Raimondo. Oberlin lost the case and Gibson’s was awarded hefty damages, including punitive damages. Oberlin launched a lengthy appeals process, which finally ended on August 30, 2022, when the Supreme Court of Ohio refused to hear the case. In December 2022, Oberlin finally paid the $36.59 million it owed. It never apologized to Gibson’s.