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 dollars, 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."