The lawyer representing the 24 women who have filed civil lawsuits against Cleveland Browns’ quarterback Deshaun Watson said that his law firm will “soon be joining the Houston Texans organization and others as defendants” in the lawsuits against Watson, according to ESPN’s Sarah Barshop.
“Based on what we have learned from the Houston Police Department, we will soon be joining the Houston Texans organization and others as defendants in the ongoing lawsuits against Deshaun Watson,” the attorney wrote (via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com on Twitter). “Our team has thoroughly vetted each case. We are considering many others. These women are the true heroes in this sordid story. What has become clear is that the Houston Texans organization and their contracting “massage therapy company” facilitated Deshaun Watson’s conduct. In many of these cases, the Texans provided the opportunity for this conduct to occur. We believe the Texans organization was well aware of Watson’s issues but failed to act. They knew or certainly should have known. The Houston Texans organization provided rooms for Watson at the high-end Houstonian hotel for his “massages”; the Texans also provided massage tables and other support for Watson’s proclivities – ostensibly to protect their “asset.” We intend to make sure all involved in Watson’s conduct are held accountable, in addition to and including Watson himself.”
Watson has denied all wrongdoing.
The Texans released the following statement (via Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com on Twitter):
“We take accusations of this nature that involve anyone within the Houston Texans organization seriously. We will await further information before making any additional statements on this incident.”
