Bill Cosby Sues Accuser Andrea Constand and Her Mom for Cooperating with Authorities in Criminal Case Against Him

Bill Cosby has filed a breach of contract lawsuit against Andrea Constand, her mother, her attorneys and the National Enquirer, saying they "have all broken a confidentiality agreement negotiated in 2006, according to a partially unsealed complaint filed in U.S. District Court, 

Cosby is asking for Constand to return the money she got in the settlement. 

The sealed complaint was originally filed on Feb. 1 but U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno ordered a redacted version be released earlier this week. 

The suit alleges Constand, 42, and her mother Gianna broke the confidentiality agreement when they spoke to the Montgomery County district attorney's office last summer. 

Andrea and Gianna "voluntarily participated in a 2015 reinvestigation of Andrea Constand's allegations against Mr. Cosby," the lawsuit says. "Both Andrea and Gianna voluntarily sat for interviews with the district attorney, even though they were under no legal obligation to do so and the terms of the confidentiality agreement expressly prohibited such conduct." 

Cosby, 78, has been charged with allegedly drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea at his Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, mansion in January 2004. 

Former Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce L. Castor, Jr. declined to prosecute Cosby for the alleged crime in February 2005 but his successor reopened the case last summer. 

The suit alleges Dolores Troiani, one of Constand's attorneys, violated the agreement when she "voluntarily cooperated with the investigation and turned over her case files from the underlying litigation to the district attorney." 

The suit also alleges Troiani and her former law partner, Bebe Kivitz, violated the agreement by filing a defamation lawsuit against Castor and by writing an open letter to Castor following his public comments about Constand. 

The National Enquirer, owned by America Media, Inc., has allegedly violated the same agreement because it "has published and continues to publish stories regarding allegations against Mr. Cosby made by Andrea Constand and other individuals despite its clear contractual obligations to not publish any stories relating to certain allegations against Mr. Cosby." 

Constand sued American Media and Cosby for defamation in 2005 and settled the lawsuit with a confidentiality agreement in late 2006. 

Troiani declined to comment on the lawsuit but filed a brief opposing the document being sealed, saying Cosby and his representatives have "engaged in a public campaign to support Cosby's public persona as a moralist and to discredit the many women who accused Cosby of unwanted sexual comment with them." 

An AMI spokesperson released a statement calling the Enquirer's coverage of the case "unflinching" 

"We are confident that when the court reviews his claims against the ENQUIRER, it will find them to be without merit," the statement said. 

A preliminary hearing on the criminal case is scheduled for March 8.

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