Bill Cosby Sued For Sexual Battery Following five Similar Suits
Sitcom star and comedian Bill Cosby has again been sued by a woman who claims that he sexually assaulted her. The lawsuit, filed last Friday, joins five other women who sued him in early December for sexual battery.
Stacey Pinkerton, who filed the suit in New York's supreme court, claims that in 1986 when she was 21 years old, she was sexually assaulted by Bill Cosby.
The lawsuit claims that Pinkerton, a model and flight attendant at the time, was a victim of sexual harassment and assault by Cosby, who allegedly abused his position of power to "groom and sexually assault" her. During a dinner, they supposedly had to discuss how to further her career in the media, the complainant claims that Cosby drugged her and sexually assaulted her.
The lawsuit claims that months later, at a show at the Chicago Theatre, Cosby forcibly kissed and touched Pinkerton without her consent.
The lawsuit claims that Cosby "engaged in the same or similar pattern of conduct" by promising to help his victims' careers in exchange for drugging and sexually assaulting them.
The former "Cosby Show" star was convicted of sexual assault and drugging in 2018, receiving a sentence of 3-10 years in prison, but was released in 2021 after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reversed the conviction.
NBC, Kaufman Astoria Studios, and the Carsey-Werner Company, the organizations in charge of running the Cosby Show, are also being sued by Pinkerton for negligence in relation to hiring, managing, and keeping employees on the Cosby Show.
No immediate response was received from NBC, Carsey-Werner, or Kaufman Astoria when asked for comment.
Pinkerton has previously made public accusations that Cosby sexually assaulted her, but her lawsuit comes after a New York law was passed allowing adult survivors of sexual assault to file lawsuits against their perpetrators for up to one year after the statute of limitations has expired.
In early December, five women sued Cosby under New York's Adult Survivors Act.
Attorney Jeff Anderson told CNN that Pinkerton filed the lawsuit to "hold him accountable and stand up for herself and others" and that "the law in New York now allows her and other adults to bring this action against the offenders and those that allowed it to happen."
A spokesperson for Cosby has denied all the claims made against him in the lawsuit in a statement to CNN.
“We believe that the courts, as well as the court of public opinion, will follow the rules of law and relieve Mr Cosby of these alleged accusations. Mr Cosby continues to vehemently deny all allegations waged against him and looks forward to defending himself in court,” Andrew Wyatt wrote.
Cosby’s lawyer, Jennifer Bonjean, told CNN that New York’s new law is “going down a dangerous path.”
“We’re not totally surprised that when the New York state legislature decided to abolish the statute of limitations, it was going to lead to a number of stale allegations that are being revived,” Bonjean told CNN. “Our position is that the statute is unconstitutional, because it revives claims that have been barred by the statute of limitation for a long time, and that it sets a very dangerous precedent, legally speaking, and not just in the context of old assaults.”