CLEVELAND — The attorney for Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson has filed a motion for sanctions against the law firm representing the latest woman to accuse the three-time Pro Bowler of sexual misconduct.
In a 17-page motion filed in Harris County (TX) District Court, Watson's attorney Rusty Hardin referred to the suit filed against his client on October 13 as "a sham" and requested that the court sanction Universal Law Group (ULG) in the amount of $5,000 "for its offensive conduct."
Tera Coleman, a civil litigator at BakerHostetler, says the motion by Hardin is a savvy move. "The message this sends is that lawsuits are serious endeavors."
Watson is currently serving an 11-game suspension from the NFL after 25 similar complaints were issued against him in court, 23 of which have since been settled and another one dropped. All of the plaintiffs in those cases have been represented by Texas-based attorney Tony Buzbee. Members of the Universal Law Group in Houston are representing the latest complainant.
Hardin's motion contains several key points (CAUTION: Some of the below information is of a graphic and explicit nature):
--The motion states that public statements made by ULG "implying" that the plaintiff was unknown to investigators in Houston is untrue. According to Hardin, the Houston Police Department was aware of the plaintiff's allegations and interviewed her "as early as April of 2021. Her allegations were considered--and ultimately rejected--by police, the Harris County District Attorney's Office, and a Harris County Grand Jury." He adds that the NFL was "fully aware" of the plaintiff's allegations as well.
--Hardin's motion presented screenshots of text messages from the plaintiff to Watson that "do not sound like a person who was pressured into performing oral sex."
In September of 2021, messages appear to show the plaintiff asking to meet Watson again at the Houstonian hotel, the same hotel where the alleged assault took place ten months earlier. “I have the best head in all of Houston," she apparently wrote in one message. "Let me know when your (sic) ready to make big deposits," was written in an additional message.
--Hardin points to a meeting with the plaintiff in his firm's office on November 4, 2021 as additional evidence. He says she agreed to be interviewed after a discovery subpoena was issued. The plaintiff also provided text messages as well as direct messages to Hardin's firm.
Hardin said the plaintiff told his associate the following about Watson, “I wasn’t scared, I wasn’t intimidated. I didn’t do anything I didn’t want to do. I didn’t do anything where I didn’t feel like it was safe." The affidavit adds that the plaintiff also said of Watson, “I would love to love him. Oh, my God. I would love to be in love, and to love him… I don’t want to put criminal charges on him. It wasn’t criminal. We were in there playing around and that was it.”
"The documents provided reflect that for nearly a year after their massage session together, (plaintiff) sent more than 35 messages to Mr. Watson--none of which were answered by Mr. Watson," the motion adds.
The October 13 lawsuit claims Watson "attempted to solicit sexually related acts ... including intercourse" from a female massage therapist in December of 2020, when he was still a member of the Houston Texans. According to the filing, Watson reached out to the plaintiff via Instagram on Dec. 17, 2020, to ask about possible massage services, something Watson has been accused of doing in prior suits. The woman had been working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was "actively trying to grow her business," and was "excited and encouraged" that a professional athlete like Watson would seek her services.
The two allegedly met the next day for an appointment at the Houstonian hotel. As she was setting up her equipment, the woman claims Watson came out of the bathroom wearing only a towel and later "continually pressured [her] into massaging his private area." Watson then allegedly asked the plaintiff to have sex with him, and although she says refused to acquiesce to all of his requests, "he was able to pressure her into oral sex."
Watson then paid the woman $300 for the massage (more than double the normal rate) and left, with the plaintiff later saying he kept texting her and even asked to see her again. The lawsuit says the woman is now seeking "minimal compensatory damages" but lambasted Watson for "[using] his celebrity to take advantage of a young woman working hard for her success."
On Wednesday, 3News reached out to ULG attorney Anissah Nguyen who represents the plaintiff in the lawsuit. Nguyen says their team "is in the process of reviewing the filing and preparing a response to be filed within the next 24 hours."
Coleman says the response from Nguyen and ULG will be a crucial time in the case.
"That's when they're going to come in and hopefully they'll have evidence that they can put forward that refutes some of the things that are in that motion," she adds. "What this motion has done is it has laid out a preview of what a motion for summary judgment would look like. Plaintiff's counsel had better have some hard-hitting arguments to come back or it might put pressure on them to settle or even dismiss this lawsuit."
Watson has been accused of multiple incidents of sexual misconduct, including harassment and assault, since 2021. While two Texas grand juries declined to indict the 27-year-old on criminal charges, 25 women — all represented by Buzbee — filed civil lawsuits against Watson. One of the lawsuits was dropped, with Watson settling 20 of the cases in June and three others this past Aug. 1.
Details about the settlements remain confidential. Buzbee has declined to share details beyond referring to the settlement talks as "lengthy and intense." Regarding the remaining unsettled case, Buzbee said in August that he is continuing to discuss the case with Watson's legal team as appropriate.
Watson reached a settlement with the NFL in August, accepting an 11-game suspension and a $5 million fine. Additionally, the three-time Pro Bowl quarterback was required to continue to undergo mental health counseling.
Watson was initially given a six-game suspension by former Federal Court Judge Sue L. Robinson, who was jointly appointed by the NFL and the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) as the independent arbiter in Watson's disciplinary case. The league appealed the ruling as part of its new disciplinary system, resulting in the aforementioned settlement.
While Watson is now permitted to attend team meetings, he won't be allowed to join his teammates in practice until Nov. 14. Watson is slated to make his 2022 regular season debut on Dec. 4 in the Browns' Week 13 matchup in Houston against the Texans, his former team.
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