In 1925, the Pacific Spruce Corporation decided to hire Japanese contract labor to sort lumber in its Toledo sawmill. Managers informed local employees that only the Japanese would work the graveyard shift. The sawmill employees did not object, but local businessmen opposed bringing Japanese workers into the community. Two days after the Japanese arrived, a mob forced a Japanese labor crew to leave town. A year later, Tamakichi Ogura filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court alleging that nine individuals had violated his civil rights by assaulting him, stealing his property, and forcibly removing him from the Toledo community. After a nine-day trial, the jury unanimously agreed with Ogura and awarded him $2,500 in damages plus court costs.