Bill Cosby Sued for Defamation

Comedian Bill Cosby at Temple University’s commencement Thursday, May 12, 2011, in Philadelphia.

One of the women who says Bill Cosby sexually assaulted her has filed a defamation suit against the comedian, saying his denials of abuse have branded her a liar.

Tamara Green, who first went public with her allegations in 2005, sued Cosby in the federal court at Springfield, Massachusetts. Reuters reports:

The plaintiff in Wednesday’s case, Tamara Green, 66, a lawyer who lives near San Diego, claims Cosby drugged her at a Los Angeles cafe with pills he told her were cold tablets, then sexually assaulted her at her apartment, leaving her two $100 bills on a coffee table before he left.

The lawsuit said previous denials by an attorney and a publicist representing Cosby in response to those allegations when they were published in Newsweek magazine in February and the Washington Post in November were false and defamatory.

Green is seeking unspecified punitive damages, asserting that Cosby himself is liable for the conduct of his legal and press representatives.

Cosby is also being sued by Judy Huth, who claims she was abused by Cosby in 1974. That lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles.