On Tuesday, Jenny Vrentas of The New York Times published new reporting regarding Deshaun Watson.
That reporting has now altered the course of the lawsuits against the quarterback currently pending.
Tony Buzbee, the attorney for the 24 women who have filed civil lawsuits against the quarterback alleging sexual assault, announced in a statement Wednesday that he would be adding the Houston Texans as a defendant in the cases. In the piece published by Vrentas, it was reported that the Texans at times provided the venue used by Watson for his massage appointments, and that a team representative provided the quarterback with a nondisclosure agreement after a woman threatened to expose his behavior.
Per the report:
Yet a New York Times examination of records, including depositions and evidence for the civil lawsuits as well as interviews of some of the women, showed that Watson engaged in more questionable behavior than previously known.
The Times’s review also showed that Watson’s conduct was enabled, knowingly or not, by the team he played for at the time, the Houston Texans, which provided the venue Watson used for some of the appointments. A team representative also furnished him with a nondisclosure agreement after a woman who is now suing him threatened online to expose his behavior
As Buzbee notes in his statement, based on what was learned “from the Houston Police Department,” the organization “provided the opportunity for this conduct to occur.” Buzbee further notes that “[w]e believe the Texans organization was well aware of Watson’s issues, but failed to act. They knew or certainly should have known.”
That second sentence gets to what Buzbee and the Plaintiffs will need to prove as they add the Texans as a defendant: That the organization knew — or should have known — of Watson’s conduct.