In a lawsuit, Bill Cosby accuses former Temple University employee Andrea Constand and those around her of breaching a confidential 2006 settlement.
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Cosby said in a deposition that he gave women pills to gain a sexual advantage over them, prompting Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele to investigate and file the second-degree felony charge of aggravated indecent assault against Cosby.
Cosby and his attorneys filed a complaint against his accuser, Andrea Constand; her mother, Gianna Constand; Andrea’s attorneys, Dolores Troiani and Bebe Kevitz; and American Media Inc., the parent company of The National Enquirer.
“On information and belief, the deposition transcript was improperly released because Troiani and Kivitz either instructed the Court Reporter to release it, or knowingly failed to use her best efforts to ensure that her vendors comply with the confidentiality provisions of the 2006 Confidential Settlement Agreement”, states the complaint.
When prosecutors reopened the criminal charges against Cosby in 2015, investigators had to speak to all of the defendants now named in the breach-of-contract lawsuit.
The National Enquirer was threatening to publish a damaging expose, based on allegations by another woman, Beth Ferrier, which would have included information from Cosby’s deposition in the Constand case, where he admitted drugging other young women for sex. Cosby chose to dole out the bucks to Andrea after she sued him for defamation in 2005.
Representatives for Miss Constand have not commented on the latest legal twist.
The lawsuit was filed on Monday under seal in a Philadelphia federal court on February 1.
Two weeks ago a judge in Pennsylvania rejected his attempts to have the criminal trial involving Miss Constand dismissed.
Cosby has also sued Troiani.
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“Cosby is requesting the court permit him to make accusations and statements regarding the underlying settlement while restricting the ability of the public to scrutinize those accusations”, their response said. “But its filing underscores the contentious legal fight on the sidelines of the criminal case between lawyers for the 78-year-old entertainer and those who might provide evidence against him”, the Inquirer reports. So far, the judge in that case has declined Cosby’s efforts to get the suit thrown out.
