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PLAINTIFF ALLEGED SHE WAS SUBJECTED TO SEXUAL MISCONDUCT BY BILL COSBY, THE STAR OF THE TELEVISION SERIES “THE COSBY SHOW,” WHILE COSBY WAS EMPLOYED BY DEFENDANT CW, THE OWNER OF THE TV STUDIO; THE MAJORITY DISMISSED THE NEGLIGENT HIRING, RETENTION AND SUPERVISION CAUSE OF ACTION AGAINST CW; THERE WAS A TWO-JUSTICE DISSENT (FIRST DEPT).

The First Department, reversing Supreme Court, over a two-justice dissenting opinion, determined the cause of action against Bill Cosby’s employer (CW) alleging negligent hiring, retention and supervision should have been dismissed  Plaintiff alleged she was subjected to sexual misconduct by Bill Cosby, the star of the television series “The Cosby Show,” while Cosby was employed by CW:

​To establish a claim of negligence, a plaintiff must show that there was a duty owed to the plaintiff by the defendant, that there was a breach of that duty, and that there was an injury proximately resulting therefrom … . Further, “[w]here the negligence claim relates to an employer’s retention and supervision of an employee, the complaint must include allegations that: (1) the employer had actual or constructive knowledge of the employee’s propensity for the sort of behavior which caused the injured party’s harm; (2) the employer knew or should have known that it had the ability to control the employee and of the necessity and opportunity for exercising such control; and (3) the employee engaged in tortious conduct on the employer’s premises or using property or resources available to the employee only through their status as an employee, including intellectual property and confidential information” … . * * *

… [T]he sole factor that distinguishes the present complaint from the negligent hiring, retention, and supervision claim against CW that we dismissed in B.B [a similar action against Bill Cosby by a different plaintiff] is the allegation in this case that plaintiff visited Cosby at CW’s television studio. But plaintiff does not allege that anything remotely illegal or tortious occurred during this one innocuous studio visit. Given that plaintiff had no relationship with CW and no tortious act was committed upon CW’s premises … , and given that Cosby is not alleged to have directly used any CW resources in committing his assaults … , the bare allegations that Cosby met with plaintiff at CW’s television studio and used his status as the star of a CW-produced television show to impress her — neither of which constitutes independently tortious or illegal activity — does not give rise to a sufficient nexus between Cosby’s employment by CW and his alleged assaults on plaintiff to support making CW liable for Cosby’s reprehensible conduct.

From the dissent:

… Cosby’s alleged use of the set to gain plaintiff’s trust provides the nexus between Cosby’s employment by CW and his alleged assaults; that nexus was not present in B.B. The allegation that Cosby groomed and preyed on plaintiff by inviting her to the set, and claiming that The Cosby Show wanted to hire plaintiff, satisfies the pleading requirement that Cosby “us[ed] property or resources available to [him] only through [his] status as an employee” … . Picard v Cosby, 2026 NY Slip Op 05612, First Dept 10-1-26

Practice Point: Consult this decision for an in-depth discussion of the elements of “negligent hiring, retention and supervision.”​

Similar issues and result in M.P. v Cosby, 2026 NY Slip Op 05859 First Dept 10-8-26

 

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