HOUSTON – Another woman filed a lawsuit Monday against Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson, bringing the total number of people suing the football star to 22.
In the lawsuit, a licensed esthetician who “owns her own company offering skincare and other therapy sessions” in Houston claims Watson “assaulted and harassed (her) by touching her with his (private area) and exposing himself to her.”
Like in many of the previous lawsuits, the latest suit accuses Watson of reaching out to the woman via Instagram on Nov. 9, 2020, and expressing interest in getting a massage. According to the lawsuit, the woman made it clear she was not a licensed massage therapist but an esthetician, however, Watson insisted on receiving a massage from her. She agreed because she saw it as an advantage for her growing business, according to the lawsuit.
RELATED READ: Timeline of Deshaun Watson lawsuits
According to the lawsuit, the woman said Watson asked her to focus on his “lower abs, groin and quads” during the massage. According to the lawsuit, Watson told her to apply more pressure to areas where she was not comfortable touching so she moved to other areas of his body.
The lawsuit also accuses Watson of inappropriately touching the woman, exposing himself to her and trying to make her touch him.
According to the lawsuit, the woman said she ended the massage and Watson refused to pay her unless she signed a non-disclosure agreement. According to the lawsuit, Watson paid the woman $250 via CashApp despite the service only being $65.
According to the lawsuit, Watson reached out weeks later to “say hello,” but she refused to work with Watson again.
So far, only one of Watson’s accusers has gone to the police.
Rusty Hardin, Watson’s attorney, said he will make Watson available to police investigators to discuss the allegation if the police tell Hardin who the accuser is.
KPRC 2 Legal Analyst Brian Wice said one of the most important decisions a lawyer can make is deciding whether to have a client talk to investigators.
“That quite simply is the high stakes medal round. You talk about the final four. This is something beyond that in terms of the stakes for you and your client. If you don’t tell your story, somebody else will tell it for you. But the problem with that is if you don’t know what your story is then telling it is only going to get you jammed up,” Wice said.
The full civil court filing can be found here. Warning: The document contains graphic details.