Exclusive: Bakers Facing $135K Fine Over Wedding Cake for Same-Sex Couple Speak Out
It was the first time seeing her bakery since the new owners moved in.
“This is really hard,” Melissa Klein said, tears filling up her eyes.
Almost two years ago, Melissa and her husband, Aaron, owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa, had to close the bakery they built from scratch after declining to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding.
“I did all the flooring in here—this was a collection agency before we moved the bakery in,” Aaron said, peering through the glass window.
...“This country should be able to tolerate diverse opinions,” he said.
“I never once have said that my fight is [to] stop what they call equality.”
...The Daily Signal reported on Friday that an administrative law judge for the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries recommended the Kleins be fined $135,000 for the damages they caused for Rachel and Laurel.
...The proposed fine will now go to state Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian, who can either accept it or adjust the amount in issuing a final order, which is expected to arrive this summer.
...One question concerning the Kleins and their lawyer is why no doctor or medical expert was present during the hearings.
To claim $135,000, the couple submitted a list of mental, physical and emotional damages inflicted by the Kleins’ action.
As The Daily Signal previously reported, some of those symptoms include,
“acute loss of confidence,”
“doubt,”
“excessive sleep,”
“felt mentally raped, dirty and shameful,”
“high blood pressure,” “impaired digestion,”
“loss of appetite,”
“migraine headaches,”
“pale and sick at home after work,”
“resumption of smoking habit,”
“surprise,”
“weight gain” and
“worry.”
“There was no expert testimony at the hearing,” Harmon said.
“The witnesses at the hearing were the two women who were requesting a cake, one of their mothers, one of their brothers and another family member.
There was no doctor, there was no psychologist, no expert testimony at all.”
In order to account for $135,000, the state isn’t just going after Aaron and Melissa’s bakery.
“The business is gone,” Harmon, their lawyer, said.
“They don’t have business assets so when we talk about [the fine] it’s personal,” Harmon added.
“It means that’s money they would have used to feed their children that they can’t use anymore.”
Aaron said the sum is enough to financially ruin their family....
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