The disgraced comedian Bill Cosby got some bad news from a jury on Monday. Indeed, Cosby was found liable for drugging and sexually assaulting the former waitress Donna Motsinger more than 50 years ago.
Cosby Gets Bad News From Jury
Cosby, 88, has been ordered to pay $59.25 million in damages. He must pay $17.5 million for her past mental trauma. Cosby also must pay an additional $1.75 million for mental suffering Motsinger may experience in the future. On top of that, Motsinger is set to receive $40,000,000 in punitive damages.
Cosby’s lawyer Jennifer Bonjean fired back by saying that they are disappointed by the verdict. She also pledged to appeal the decision.
Motsinger, 84, claims that she was drugged and raped by Cosby back in 1972. At the time, she was working as a server at The Trident, which is a popular restaurant in Sausalito, California.
Motsinger also filed a complaint against Cosby’s production company, Jemmin, Inc., as well as the Circle Star Theater. In court documents obtained by Fox News, she explained that she took legal action against these entities for “failing to ensure the safety of its guests at the hands of its performers.”
“Jemmin, Inc. is vicariously liable for Mr. Cosby’s sexual battery as Jemmin, Inc. authorized and ratified the sexual battery through Mr. Cosby himself,” the documents stated. Motsinger’s suit went on to say that, “Jemmin, Inc. is guilty of fraud, oppression, and malice for the sexual battery of Ms. Motsinger at the hands of Cosby.”
According to Motsinger, Jemmin was set up only to support Cosby’s business and related pursuits. As for the Circle Star Theater, it is no longer in business.
Motsinger’s Claim
Cosby was reportedly a regular at The Trident at the time this alleged assault took place. Motsinger has claimed that Cosby “followed her” home one night. He then asked her to go to one of his shows at the Circle Star Theater in San Carlos, California. After she agreed, Cosby picked her up in a limousine. Once she was inside the vehicle, he gave her a “glass of wine in the limo along the way.”
Cosby was reportedly filming his standup comedy act that night for Inside the Mind of Bill Cosby. When they reached the venue, Motsinger alleges that Cosby took her to the dressing room. There, “she began to feel sick and Mr. Cosby gave her what she believed was an aspirin.”
“Next thing she knew, she was going in and out of consciousness while two men attending to Mr. Cosby were putting her in the limousine with Mr. Cosby,” the complaint alleged. “In the limousine, Mr. Cosby sat near the window and put his arms around her. The last thing Ms. Motsinger recalls were flashes of light.”
Motsinger alleges that she later “woke up in her house with all her clothes off, except her underwear on – no top, no bra, and no pants. She knew she had been drugged and raped by Bill Cosby.”
Motsinger’s Alleged Suffering
Due to this sexual battery, Motsinger said that she “suffered economic and noneconomic damages to the maximum extent allowed by law, including but not limited to the lost wages, medical bills, pain and suffering, emotional distress, and any other remedy available at law.”
Motsinger holds the Circle Star Theater responsible as well, as employees “chose not to intervene” when she claimed to be unconscious.
“At the theater, Ms. Motsinger was so drugged and sedated that she was going in and out of consciousness by the time she left in Mr. Cosby’s limousine,” the documents stated. “Employees and agents of Circle Star Theater knew or should have known of the dangerous drugged and sedated state that Ms. Motsinger was in and should have rendered care and aid to Ms. Motsinger.”
Back in 2005, Motsinger was one of 12 anonymous “Jane Does” who testified in a civil rape case filed against Cosby by former Temple University athletics director Andrea Constand. The case was settled out of court one year later.
Cosby’s Sexual Assault Conviction
In 2018, Cosby was convicted of criminal sexual assault for the alleged attack on Constand. However, he was released from prison in 2021 after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court vacated his conviction.
Cosby had been known for decades as “America’s Dad.” However, that all changed when dozens of women shockingly came forward to accuse him of drugging and raping them. Though Cosby has always maintained his innocence, the vast majority of the public firmly believe he’s guilty. This has caused Cosby to fall into complete disgrace as of late.
This jury ruling against him will certainly do nothing to help Cosby salvage his reputation. After all the trauma that she’s been through, we can only hope that Motsinger can take some comfort in this legal victory.