Picard v Cosby

Holding The court reversed the lower court’s denial of the motion to dismiss, holding that the plaintiff failed to allege a sufficient nexus between the defendant company’s resources and the alleged assaults. The majority determined that merely using the studio to impress the plaintiff did not constitute using employer resources to commit independently tortious conduct.

The court’s words

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

2026 NY Slip Op 05612, at the official text

plaintiff merely alleges that Cosby used defendant's property or resources to impress and possibly bait her — as opposed to the situs or instrumentality for committing independently tortious or illegal conduct— it is simply not enough to sustain the negligent hiring, retention and supervision claim

2026 NY Slip Op 05612, at the official text

we implicitly rejected the argument that abstract notions such as authority and influence bestowed upon a celebrity, standing alone, would qualify as an employer's 'property' or 'resources' within the meaning of Moore

2026 NY Slip Op 05612, at the official text