HOUSTON – Twenty women who have filed lawsuits in connection with misconduct and sexual assault against Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson have changed their petitions to reveal their names.
Another trial is expected to resume until Thursday, after an emergency hearing was canceled on Wednesday.
One of the 22 initial trials was abandoned by a plaintiff “for the time being”, according to court documents.
“Given the privacy and security concerns, the applicant has decided not to pursue her case for the time being,” the document states. “The applicant reserves the right to complete this case again once these concerns have been resolved.”
On Friday, two judges ruled that the majority of the plaintiffs acting on Watson must identify themselves. Judgments in two hearings on Friday covered 13 of the 22 lawsuits filed against Watson, while lawyers agreed to release a 14th name later that day. By Friday, only two women had been publicly identified. Another emergency hearing to determine whether the remaining processes should be modified had been scheduled for Wednesday, but was canceled shortly before the start of the program.
The plaintiffs’ lawyer, Tony Buzbee, said in a statement on Tuesday that his law firm had “previously tried to make available to the defense lawyer the names of the plaintiffs who sued Deshaun Watson and intend to do so in a timely manner”.
“We were concerned about the safety of these applicants and asked the Watson team to accept a protection order in which identities could be used in litigation but not disseminated to the world,” Buzbee said.
In a statement last week, Watson’s lawyer, Rusty Hardin, said that when his law firm 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, Mr. Buzbee uses it like a sword,” Hardin said in a statement Thursday. “While protecting his clients from public scrutiny, Mr Buzbee continues to use their anonymous allegations to destroy Mr Watson. It is simply not fair. And we look forward to resolving these issues in court.”