Last week, a judge ruled that 14 of Deshaun Watson’s accusers would have to reveal their identities. Fast forward a few days later, and Watson’s legal team had an important announcement to share regarding that decision.
Watson’s attorney, Rusty Hardin, told NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero that one of the women who accused his client of sexual misconduct has dropped her civil lawsuit.
“We believe we have names for 20 of the 22 lawsuits,” Hardin told Pelissero. “We’ve got one dismissed and we’re looking for one [name].”
It’s unknown as to why this one lawsuit was dropped. However, Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk is reporting that this case was not settled.
#Texans QB Deshaun Watson’s attorney, Rusty Hardin, tells me one of the women who accused Watson of sexual misconduct has dropped her civil lawsuit. “We believe we have names for 20 of the 22 lawsuits. We’ve got one dismissed and we’re looking for one (name).”
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) April 14, 2021
While this might be seen as a minor win for Watson’s camp, the reality is there are still 20 women willing to put their names out there.
Tony Buzbee, the attorney representing the women who filed these lawsuits, had a strong message for Watson’s legal team regarding the identities of this clients.
“We were concerned about the safety of these plaintiffs, and asked the Watson team to agree to a protective order where the identities could be used in litigation, but not broadcast to the world,” Buzbee said. “The Watson team refused our offer to compromise. [They] instead insisted that we amend our petitions to name these women,” he continued. “It appears the Watson team thinks that if these courageous women are forced to identify themselves, they would slink away and not pursue the matter.”
We’ll provide updates on Watson’s legal situation when they’re available.
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