Cleveland Browns defender Deshaun Watson reached a confidential agreement with all but four women who sued him and charged him with sexual misconduct during massage sessions in early 2020 and early 2021, the female lawyer said Tuesday.
The agreements will end women’s litigation against her almost 15 months after most of them were filed in 2021.
“Today, I announce that all but four of the cases against Deshaun Watson have been settled,” the plaintiffs’ attorney, Tony Buzbee, said in a statement. “We are working on the paperwork involved in these settlements. Once we have done so, these specific cases will be rejected. The terms and amounts of the settlements will be confidential. We will not comment on the agreements or these cases further.
The case law will allow Watson to move on from most lawsuits after it regularly made ugly headlines about him, at least somewhat ruining his recent arrival as Cleveland Browns’ new $ 230 million quarterback. Resolving the cases will also help him avoid the several days of testimony that was scheduled for him that week. These statements will not proceed.
The big question now is how the agreements could affect any decision to suspend him under the NFL’s personal conduct policy. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in May that the investigation into the charges against Watson was coming to an end, but it was not clear what he knew too much about the two new lawsuits against Watson this year or the recent pre-trial discovery.
Watson’s lawyer Rusty Hardin declined to comment on Tuesday when US TODAY Sports contacted him.
Hardin had said the women lied, and Buzbee considered Watson a “payday” after the women accused Watson of misconduct, including exposing themselves, touching their genitals, and in some cases forcing them into sex.
Watson, 26, was not arrested or charged after two Texas juries refused to charge him. There may have been several reasons why the jury decided not to prosecute her, including the lack of solid evidence in these individual cases when Watson’s words were contrasted with those of women. Only one of the appellants was summoned to testify in Harris County Jury in March, although other appellants there were summoned and willing to testify, Buzbee told U.S. TODAY Sports earlier.
One of the unresolved cases is the first lawsuit filed by Watson, Ashley Solis. Buzbee said he is looking forward to his case and others will remain active in due course.
“The cases against Deshaun Watson started with a phone call from a brave and strong woman,” Buzbee said. “This woman was Ashley Solis. During this speech, she was just one of hundreds of legal calls our company receives each week. Although she was initially rejected by our screening process, my staff demanded that I speak to her in person. I’m glad she When we looked for a second time and after contacting Watson ‘s original lawyer, who did not respect Ashley and his profession and arrogantly minimized the behavior of someone he called “property,” I was convinced that our law firm should try to help him.
“Ashley’s lonely but courageous voice encouraged many women who had allegedly experienced the same behavior to move forward soon. I am incredibly proud to represent them all. They have endured constant criticism and fanatical ignorance. and they stayed in. They are all warriors.We have an important announcement about these cases today, but it is important to note that without Ashley Solise, these women’s behavior would probably have continued indefinitely. no study would be made of how teams could knowingly or unknowingly allow certain behaviors, sports teams would not review their staff control processes, and this important story would not have dominated sports titles for more than a year.
One of Watson’s most recent lawsuits stated that Watson had previously offered each plaintiff $ 100,000 to settle the lawsuit, but not everyone agreed to that amount “because of an aggressive non-disclosure agreement offered by the Watson team.” Similarly, settlement terms may never be disclosed.
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboor @Schrotenboer. Email: [email protected]
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