North Bay Waitress Wins Sexual Battery Suit Against Cosby, Awarded $19M

SANTA MONICA, CA — A woman who said Bill Cosby sexually abused her while she was working as a server at a Marin County restaurant in the 1970s was awarded $19.25 million by a Southern California jury on Monday in a civil lawsuit against the comedian.

Jurors reached the verdict on their third day of deliberations. They also determined that the plaintiff, Donna Motsinger, is due punitive damages, but that amount has not yet been determined.

According to the Santa Monica Superior Court sexual battery lawsuit, the actor/comedian came into the Trident restaurant in Sausalito every day during a stretch of 1972, and Motsinger had served Cosby at his table.

One day, when she was headed home after work, Cosby followed Motsinger, pulled up next to her, and asked her if she would like to attend a show he was performing in the area, according to the complaint.

Motsinger agreed, and Cosby said he'd pick her up later, the suit states. A limousine driver subsequently took Motsinger to the theater, and on the way there, Cosby gave her a glass of wine, the suit states.

``She began to feel sick and Mr. Cosby gave her what she believed was an aspirin,'' the suit states, while adding that the next thing Motsinger knew, she was going in and out of consciousness.

The last thing Motsinger remembers were flashes of light and waking up at home wearing only her underwear, the suit filed in September 2023 states.

``She knew she had been drugged and raped by Bill Cosby,'' the suit states.

Attorneys for the 88-year-old Cosby said he did not remember any sexual contact with Motsinger, but if any occurred, it was consensual. The lawyers also denied that Cosby gave Motsinger drugs without her permission.

Jennifer Bonjean, an attorney for Cosby, told reporters after the verdict that she was ``disappointed'' by the decision and the case will be appealed.

Motsinger said she was glad that Cosby will be held accountable.

Cosby was convicted in 2018 of sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004. He served three years in prison, but his conviction was overturned in 2021, and he was released from custody.

In June 2022, another Santa Monica civil jury found Bill Cosby liable for sexually abusing Judy Huth at the Playboy Mansion in 1975, when she was 16 years old. The panel awarded Huth $500,000.

City News Service contributed to this report.