Deshaun Watson’s lawyer, Rusty Hardin, revealed that a woman has withdrawn her civil lawsuit against the Texan quarterback. Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network reported Tuesday.
“We believe we have names for 20 of the 22 lawsuits,” Hardin said. “We have rejected one and are looking for one (name)”.
The court document, however, says that the “plaintiff reserves the right to dismiss this case once these concerns are addressed,” and says the lawsuit has been withdrawn “for now” in light of privacy issues.
Last week, in two separate hearings, State District Judge Dedra Davis heeded Hardin’s request to identify one of the 22 plaintiffs. A second judge made the same determination in the cases of another 12 women on Friday afternoon. Later that day, lawyers reached an agreement to release a 14th name.
By Friday, only two women had been publicly identified.
Houston attorney Tony Buzbee issued a statement Tuesday evening saying his law firm will amend the 22 lawsuits to disclose the names, “even those that are not currently subject to any court order.”
In his statement, Buzbee said his law firm “previously tried to make available to defense attorneys the names of the plaintiffs suing Deshaun Watson and intended to do so at the time.”
“We were concerned about the safety of these plaintiffs and asked Watson’s team to accept a protection order where identities could be used in litigation, but not disseminated to the world.”
However, Hardin said in a statement last week that when his office asked Buzbee “to identify his clients weeks ago, he refused and told us to file a motion.”
“While I understand that anonymity is often used as a shield for victims, Buzbee uses it as a sword,” Hardin said in a statement Thursday. “While protecting his clients from public scrutiny, Mr. Buzbee continues to use his anonymous allegations to destroy Mr. Watson. That is simply not right. And we hope to resolve these issues in court.”
Since Tuesday evening, 11 lawsuits have been amended to reveal the names of the plaintiffs.
- March 30, 2020, at the plaintiff’s home in Texas
- April 19, 2020, at a spa in Houston
- June 2, 2020, at a spa in Houston
- July 15, 2020, to a home in Beverly Hills, California
- August 2, 2020, in a Houston hotel
- August 28, 2020, a The Houstonian Hotel, Club and Spa
- September 24, 2020, in a rented room in a Houston lounge
- Several meetings between September 9, 2020 and October 2020, at a spa in Houston
- Two sessions, on October 19 and around November 2, 2020, at the plaintiff’s office in Houston
- December 28, 2020, to a Houston office building
- January 21, 2021, in Houston
These 22 civil lawsuits currently on the Harris County District Secretary’s website, which were filed between March 16 and April 2, allege sexual harassment and assault during massage appointments over the past year, including a in early March.
The allegations range from refusing to cover his genitals to forcing women to have oral sex with him.
In addition to civil lawsuits, the Houston Police Department released a statement Friday (April 2) stating that someone has filed a report on Watson.