CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – A day after Deshaun Watson cleaned out his locker in Berea to begin the offseason, a Texas judge ordered him to sit for a deposition in the most recent lawsuit filed last fall.
A Texas judge ruled during a video conference hearing Tuesday afternoon that Watson has 90 days to be deposed.
Last week Watson’s attorney, Rusty Hardin, filed an official response to the lawsuit, which accused the Browns quarterback – then a member of the Houston Texans – of pressuring a massage therapist into performing oral sex on him in December 2020 at a Houston-area hotel.
In the response to the court submitted by Hardin, Watson denied the allegations, requested a jury trial in the civil case and sought relief in the form of court costs and expenses.
Shortly after the lawsuit was filed last October, Hardin submitted evidence to the court that included a series of messages purportedly sent by the therapist to Watson – some of which were sexually suggestive – asking to meet with Watson that Watson never responded to over an eight-month period after the alleged encounter took place.
Hardin also sought sanctions for the attorney that filed the lawsuit claiming it was filed in bad faith.
The plaintiff’s attorney’s responded by alleging the messages attributed to her client were fabricated.
Watson previously settled 23 lawsuits alleging sexual misconduct during massage therapy sessions. Another case was dropped after a judge ruled that the accusers were required to use their legal names in the court filings.
In addition to the October suit, one other case remains active and is expected to go to trial this spring.
Prior to leaving for the offseason, Watson was asked about the two pending cases against him.
“I'm approaching it every day just with a smile on my face and just being able to let my attorneys and my lawyers deal with that situation,” Watson said Monday. “I gotta focus on moving forward with my career and my life and just let my attorneys handle that situation. So right now I can't really speak on, I don't know how that's going to go.”
Watson served an 11-game suspension, paid a $5 million fine and has undergone counseling as part of the requirements of the disciplinary settlement reached with the NFL last August following an investigation by the league and disciplinary process.