An Idaho jury unanimously sided with a coffee shop owner who accused Boise State University administrators of conspiring against her over her pro-police views.
Boise State University administrators owe a coffee shop owner $4 million after a jury unanimously ruled the school officials violated the woman's First Amendment rights in a conflict over her public support of law enforcement. The jury awarded Big City Coffee owner Sarah Fendley $3 million for lost business, reputational damage, mental and emotional distress and personal humiliation, in a decision reached Sept. 13.
lawyer for the administrators denied any retaliation, and accused Fendley herself of trying to get the university to infringe on students' speech rights. Big City opened an on-campus location in September 2020, on the heels of the nationwide police reform protests that followed George Floyd's killing in Minneapolis.
Fendley claimed the university terminated her contract because of her support for police, a move her lawyer said clearly violated her free speech rights. Hours before the meeting started, administrators were working on a press release about the business leaving campus, Fendley's attorney Michael Roe said, making it clear they had a single outcome in mind. 'Senior administration at BSU caved to a very small number of student activists,' Roe told Fox News Digital.
Boise State's attorney Keely Duke argued Fendley was actually the one seeking to suppress speech. Fendley wanted administrators to use the student code of conduct to punish students for expressing views she disagreed with, Duke argued, adding that administrators remained neutral throughout the conflict. 'The First Amendment protects everyone,' Duke said in court. 'It protects Fendley’s right to express her support for the thin blue line.
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