The final judgment has come in for Aaron and Melissa Klein, the Gresham, Oregon, bakers who had been found guilty of discriminating against a lesbian couple by refusing to bake them a wedding cake.
They've been ordered to pay $135,000 to make up for the emotional damage they caused by telling this couple no.
From the Associated Press and KATU in Oregon:
“This case is not about a wedding cake or a marriage.
Under Oregon law, that is illegal," the bureau's final order states.
...First of all, the state agency recommended, remarkably, that the Kleins also be required to pay for the emotional damages caused to the couple by media coverage and social media reactions to the case, because the Kleins appeared in the media a couple of times to defend and explain themselves.
They wanted the bakers to have to pay further because of the emotional toll of conversations and media coverage over much of which the Kleins had absolutely no control.
Fortunately, the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries ruled against additional damages.
The $135,000 is based just on the result of the Kleins telling the couple they would not make them a wedding cake.
The second thing I want to alert folks to is the absurd way this order describes the emotional damage done to this couple...
Here's a chunk of the text, and there's a lot like it in the full order:
"Respondent's denial of service made her feel as if God made a mistake when he made her, that she wasn't supposed to be, and that she wasn't supposed to love, have a family, and go to heaven. ... [She] interpreted the denial to represent that she was not a creature created by god, not created with a soul and unworthy of holy love and life.
She felt anger, intense sorrow, and shame.
These are reasonable and very real responses to not being allowed to participate in society like everybody else..."
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