Oh-oh! Oberlin College’s insurance company says their policy doesn’t cover the huge verdict against it

The insurer that covers Oberlin College for liability, Lexington Insurance Company, filed documents with court last month indicating that its umbrella liability policy would not cover costs of any judgment for the plaintiffs. That means that if, after the appeals process has run its course, the plaintiffs move to collect the $11 million a jury just awarded them (plus whatever punitive damages – up to $22 more – are awarded next week), Lexington likely won’t pay and Oberlin would have to sue for reimbursement.

We know this thanks to the research of the Legal Insurrection Foundation, which looked at the court filings, and LI’s founder, William A. Jacobson who explains them. His article, “EXCLUSIVE: Oberlin College insurer likely to reject coverage for Gibson Bakery $11 million verdict,” presents the legal reasoning, and provides excerpts from the court filings of Lexington, providing links to the original.

The likelihood of refusal to cover the verdict was revealed in a May 1, 2019, Motion to Intervene(pdf.)(full embed at bottom of post) filed by Lexington Insurance Company.

The purpose of the motion, according to Lexington, was “for the limited purpose of submitting interrogatories to the jury in order to determine facts at issue in this action that would impact coverage under its policy.”

His examination of the documents reveals the arguments Lexington was looking to support that its policies do not cover the circumstances of the case. While the legally-defined purpose of the filings was narrow, Lexington showed us its argument against paying off.

It must be stipulated that the scenario portrayed above may not play out. There are many twists and turns ahead, and many legal bills yet to be generated.

Professor Jacobson cautions:

There will be post-trial motions to set aside the jury verdict and/or reduce the dollar amounts, and then appeals. So while the Gibson family won a major victory, it is not over.

Whatever the legal outcome, Oberlin has a mess on its hands and its trustees must begin planning for possible need to cough up millions of dollars. It is also in line for more big legal bills at a time of cutbacks. The administrators they hired have screwed up royally by advancing political correctness and caving in to the student SJWs, and the institutional damage is well beyond the pending financial contingency.

The insurer that covers Oberlin College for liability, Lexington Insurance Company, filed documents with court last month indicating that its umbrella liability policy would not cover costs of any judgment for the plaintiffs. That means that if, after the appeals process has run its course, the plaintiffs move to collect the $11 million a jury just awarded them (plus whatever punitive damages – up to $22 more – are awarded next week), Lexington likely won’t pay and Oberlin would have to sue for reimbursement.