BOISE, Idaho — After a three-week trial, the jury in Big City Coffee vs. Boise State administrators ruled in favor of the coffee shop.
The trial began on Thursday, Aug. 29.
In 2021, Big City Coffee filed a $10 million lawsuit against the former vice president for student affairs and enrollment management, Leslie Webb and chief financial and operating officer and vice president for finance and operations, Alicia Estey.
The jury unanimously ruled on Friday evening that Boise State administrators violated owner Sarah Fendley's First Amendment rights and awarded her $3 million in damages.
The jury also awarded Fendley an additional $1 million, specifically against Webb.
Fendley was emotional as the verdict was read. Mike Roe, Fendley's attorney, told KTVB his client was grateful, and they hadn't process it entirely yet.
In a statement to KTVB, Keely Duke, who represented the two BSU administrators, said: "We respectfully but strongly disagree with today's verdict and plan to appeal. We were honoring the First Amendment rights of all involved."
The Coffee Shop's owner, Sarah Fendley claimed she was forced to close her shop on the BSU campus in 2020.
The case revolved around a “thin blue emblem” sticker that Big City Coffee had displayed on the outside of their downtown Boise location.
When Big City Coffee opened a location in 2020 at BSU, student activists spoke out, including one student who posted on Snapchat, stating, “I hope y’all don’t go there if you truly support your bipoc peers and other students, staff and faculty.”
"I was completely blindsided," Fendley said in opening arguments. "I had no idea that there was any situation brewing and I was told there was a firestorm heading my way."
On Friday, Estey took the stand as the last witness before closing argument.
"We didn't retaliate against her at all," she said. "She made a choice to leave which was her choice to make, there was no retaliation."
Roe told jurors in closing arguments that BSU, which he described as Idaho's largest university "mistreated a small business instead of doing the right thing."
He added "It's what makes this country unique, the right to speak, and think, and believe freely, without the fear some governor actor is gonna punish you for it, or some government agency."
Fendley provided KTVB with the following statement on Tuesday, Sept. 24:
"I have gratitude to the jury of 12 peers that unanimously came back with the verdict in my favor. I am grateful they committed three weeks of their lives to hearing my case. It’s been almost four years since I was removed from Boise State campus and my attorney, Mike Roe said it best in closing arguments to the jury, “This case is not about liberal vs. conservative, Black vs. white, gay vs. straight. It’s not even about anti-police vs. pro police. That’s not what this case is about. It’s about highly educated, highly compensated, government officials running Idaho’s largest university grossly mistreating a small businesswoman because they didn’t care about her and doing so was easier than doing the right thing. In that mistreatment they violated her First Amendment rights to free speech and free expression.
"I started Big City 24 years ago when I was 31 years old. I sold my car to fund the down payment on the shop knowing nothing and with no degree, no family money and just hard work and learning on the job. I made it a special place for my employees, their now kids and the community. It was the time of my life, and it was my whole life, my DNA. This fight for the truth and this trial after four years took so much from me that I had nothing left for Big City. I chose to close in early August before the trial so I could focus on that. It was the hardest decision to make and it’s painful to think about Big City being gone. It’s still in my heart and in many others. It was a Boise landmark, and I am so proud of that. The future is unknown but again I am grateful to the jury and their verdict, and I hope that we all can rest and recover."