Morning Headlines: Secret Cosby Lawsuit Comes to Light

Actor and comedian Bill Cosby arrives for a court appearance Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016, in Norristown, Pa.

Good morning, Philadelphia. Here’s what you need to know:

Cosby sues Constand for breach of contract.

Comedian Bill Cosby, now facing a criminal trial he strove mightily to avoid, has filed suit against his most prominent accuser, Andrea Constand, and the National Enquirer’s parent company, claiming they broke Constand’s 2006 agreement to keep details of her lawsuit against Cosby confidential in exchange for a cash payment. The suit, which had been filed under seal, was re-filed in a redacted version yesterday, pursuant to a judge’s order. New York magazine’s Vulture section was the first to report on the redacted suit, noting that it confirmed The Hollywood Reporter’s earlier conjecture that the suit involved the confidentiality agreement. The Enquirer got roped in for reporting on the allegations against him, which Cosby claims broke contractual obligations it had with him. Cosby is seeking damages, or repayment of money previously paid to the defendants in this suit — plus interest.

A former Wawa employee proposes a whopper of a class-action lawsuit.
“There is no place to work like Wawa,” say the signs encouraging people to apply for jobs on the doors of just about every Wawa store. And the region’s favorite convenience-store chain, now on its way to becoming an East Coast favorite, treats its employees well. One big perk: the company’s employee stock ownership plan, which gives them a nice stake in the privately held firm. Many employees have used the stock to build their retirement nest eggs — but a change in the rules last August allegedly forced employees who have left the company to sell their stock, something they had not been required to do until they reached age 68. As we reported yesterday, one former employee, 40-something Greg Pfeifer, says the change has cost at least $30,000 in future earnings so far, and he is suing Wawa on behalf of a proposed class of 3,000 former employees who he says were also forced to sell early by the rule change. Pfeifer’s attorney, Daniel Feinberg, said it’s OK for the company to change the rules for current and future employees, but a promise made to those now gone should be kept.

Philly cops offer some help for Kanye West.

You may have heard by now that hip-hop star Kanye West is in a deep, deep hole: $53 million in debt, mostly from failed fashion ventures. The Philadelphia Police Department sure has, and it offered some advice for West: Join the ranks of the boys in blue. Philly Mag reports that the PPD took to Twitter and Facebook with the message that it’s hiring, and that with a starting salary of $47,920, “u could be debt free by the year 3122!” “Whoever handles the @PhillyPolice social media deserves a raise,” was one of the responses to that Tweet. So far, though, no response from West, who’s trying to raise the dough from bigger fish. (One of them is Mark Zuckerberg, who’s apparently declined to help.)

Smash-and-grab burglars hit Century 21. 

For some people, it seems, designer duds at 60% off retail still isn’t a big enough discount. It certainly wasn’t for the burglars who broke the front windows of Century 21 on Market Street and made off with about $2,000 of merchandise in the wee small hours of Thursday morning. In its report, 6ABC quotes one West Philly resident as saying, “They had to plan it out. It’s kind of hard with the police that’s down here. So they had to be scoping the place for a while.” The robbery comes on the heels of a similar heist in which robbers in ski masks ransacked the Bloomingdale’s outlet at Liberty Place and took what police say was about $3,600 worth of  jeans.

And speaking of smash…

“Witnesses at a nearby nail salon said it felt like an earthquake,” NBC10 reported after a multi-vehicle accident involving a SEPTA bus, a taxi, an SUV with limousine tags, a school bus and a TD Bank branch on West Market Street injured 19 people. As the lunchtime accident took place right outside our offices, we have a full report on the incident with plenty of pictures as well. (Our offices are on the 36th floor, however, so we felt no shaking at all.)

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