HOUSTON – A masseuse in Houston filed a civil lawsuit against Deshaun Watson, alleging misconduct at her home in March 2020 by the Houston Texans quarterback.
The lawsuit, which was opened Tuesday night by attorney Tony Buzbee of Houston and appeared on the Harris County district secretary’s website on Wednesday morning, claims that Watson “committed civilian aggression” by touching the masseuse with his penis and that “intentionally or knowingly caused physical harm to contact the Claimant when Watson knew, or should reasonably have known, that the Claimant would find such contact offensive.”
Watson responded on Twitter to the lawsuit on Tuesday night, saying he rejected “a six-figure unsubstantiated settlement request” and that it is “clearing my name, and I look forward to doing so”. At the time of his statement, Watson said he had not seen the process.
“I have never treated any woman with anything but the utmost respect,” Watson said in his statement.
The lawsuit alleges that Watson scheduled a massage on March 30, 2020, with a massage therapist who works regularly at his home. After leaving the room, the masseuse claims to have returned and found Watson lying on the massage table with only a small towel covering the groin area.
The lawsuit says the plaintiff “started to feel extremely uncomfortable” and “it became apparent that Watson wanted a massage for just one reason – sex”. He accuses Watson of exposing himself and later touching the woman.
In the process, the massage therapist claimed that, after asking Watson to leave, the defender made a statement that she considered a threat. The suit also says that Watson later texted her to apologize.
The Texans issued a statement on Wednesday saying they are aware of the matter.
“We learned of a civil lawsuit involving Deshaun Watson through a social media post last night,” said the team’s statement. “This is the first time we have heard about the matter and we hope to find out more soon. We take allegations of this nature that involve anyone within the Houston Texans organization seriously. We will wait for more information before making any further statements about this incident.”