Just when he thinks it’s over, they pull him back in.
A lot of people by now have probably thought, or at least assumed, that Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson’s legal problems were in the past, that he had reached a settlement with all of the dozens of women, employed by him of massage therapists, who claim that he sexually harassed or assaulted them.
Well, he settled with most of them but not all of them. One woman would not settle. Her name is Lauren Baxley, and she and her lawyer, Tony Buzbee, intend to take her civil case against Watson to trial rather than accept a closed-door cash payment. Buzbee provided the following statement to Cleveland.com:
Today we filed a motion to put Lauren Baxley’s case on the trial docket, in the Houston court where it was originally filed. All other victims in the Deshaun Watson litigation that this firm represented have settled their claims. Ms. Baxley, to her credit, has refused, and wants a public trial. I intend to help give her that. She is entitled to have a trial on her claims; I will proudly present her case. Ms. Baxley has a strong case, and I encourage the internet trolls to take note as we proceed.
While nearly all of the women accepted settlement offers, Baxley explained her decision to reject them back in August in an article that was published on The Daily Beast. “I have rejected all settlement offers, in part because they have not included any sincere acknowledgment of remorse and wrongdoings, nor have they included any promises of rehabilitative treatment”, she explained.
“Watson still refuses to admit that he harassed and committed indecent assault against me. Any settlement offer he has made has been a dismissal of his evil actions, and I know that unless there is an authoritative intervention, he will continue his destructive behavior”.
Baxley is not the only outstanding plaintiff. Another woman represented by a different lawyer filed suit against Watson last October, and that case has not been settled. Depositions in that case are due to begin within the next month or two, according to Cleveland.com.
Watson served an 11-game suspension during the 2022 season, which was a reduced sentence upon appeal. The league originally handed down an indefinite suspension of at least one full season; an independent arbitrator reduced it, citing past league precedent.
The Browns traded for Watson in March 2022. They were one of several bidders attempting to acquire from the Houston Texans, knowing full well the many allegations against him. The bidding war began after it was determined that he would not face criminal charges, but rather only civil charges.
During previous depositions, Watson has acknowledged that he engaged in sexual relations with some of the many women that he contacted to perform massage therapy on him during his employ with the Texans. He maintains that those acts were consensual and that he never employed any of them with the intention of propositioning them for sexual favors.
