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Sexual Assault Suits Against Watson

paycheck71 said:
IIRC, in the deflategate case, TB sued the league in federal court and got to play a season before the case was heard. Then he had to serve his suspension the year after. Will be interesting to see how DW handles the press questions if he gets to play this year with all the pending cases against him.
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All NFL player suits appealing suspensions to Federal courts have been ultimately met with failure..................Tom Brady, Ezekiel Elliot, Adrian Peterson, Jonathan Vilma. Good luck with that.
 
NFLPA, Deshaun Watson have decided to challenge a full-year suspension in court
Posted by Mike Florio on July 18, 2022, 1:13 PM EDT


The eventual punishment, if any, imposed on Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson will depend first on the decision of Judge Sue L. Robinson and then, if she imposes any discipline at all and the league appeals, the Commissioner or his designee. Eventually, the courts could get involved.

Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports reports that the NFL Players Association and Watson’s camp already have decided to sue the league in federal court, if the end result of the process is a full-season suspension.



While the union and Watson are entitled to try, it won’t be easy to win. For starters, judges love it when private parties agree to their own procedures for resolving disputes. The NFL and the NFLPA negotiated the process of imposing discipline under the Personal Conduct Policy. Both sides agreed to revise the approach in 2020, with the disciplinary officer entering the calculation. As a general matter, courts won’t be inclined to burden themselves by second-guessing the unfolding of the steps crafted by management and labor — and the Federal Arbitration Act gives them cover to stay out of such battles.

Complicating matters is the history created by the cases resulting from the suspensions of Tom Brady and Ezekiel Elliott. Brady, after defeating his #Deflategate suspension in a Manhattan federal court, lost before a three-judge panel in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Elliott, who successfully circumvented the New York federal court system and the precedent of the Brady case, initially won relief in a Texas federal court from his Personal Conduct Policy suspension. However, it was determined that he had sued too quickly when he filed his case challenging the final decision of the league before the NFL could file a lawsuit attempting to defend it. The case reverted to the one the NFL filed in New York, and that was that.
That’s where the NFL has a built-in advantage. It can have the paperwork ready to file in the Southern District of New York, and it can press the button literally seconds after the internal ruling becomes official. Basically the league can easily win what is ultimately a rigged race to the courthouse.
The fact that the league and the union have negotiated a new CBA since the Elliot case will make it even harder to attack the current procedures. If there were serious concerns regarding the rules and regulations for imposing discipline under the Personal Conduct Policy, the union could have addressed them when hammering out the new terms. To prevail, the NFLPA will need to show that the league violated its own rules and regulations, in some way.

It won’t be enough to say, “We don’t like the final decision.” Both sides agreed that the disciplinary officer makes the first decision, that the Commissioner or his designee handle the appeal, and that the decision on appeal is final. The federal courts aren’t supposed to be the next level of appeal. The case is supposed to be over. Thus, based on the Brady and Elliott cases, it won’t be easy for Watson to get a federal court to overturn a one-year suspension, if that’s the final result of the agreed internal procedure.
 
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CloakNNNdagger said:
All NFL player suits appealing suspensions to Federal courts have been ultimately met with failure..................Tom Brady, Ezekiel Elliot, Adrian Peterson, Jonathan Vilma. Good luck with that.
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Right, but there will likely be some sort of stay order issued by the court until it rules.
 
Texansballer74 said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1549076191772119046
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No doubt the Team Watson decision to sue if they get a 1 year suspension will not go unnoticed by Judge Robinson or the NFL owners. It evidently is a move to intimidate Robinson and the NFL before suspension decisions/appeals are presented. If there was any hesitancy to appeal a lesser suspension on the part of the NFL as has previously been tweeted by questionable "unknown sources," that hesitancy is probably out the door.
 
paycheck71 said:
Right, but there will likely be some sort of stay order issued by the court until it rules.
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Only one (Brady) of those produced that result.

The decision to vacate the Brady lawsuit per the American Bar Association:

Basis for Decision

"The court noted that, under the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the NFL Players Association and the NFL, the Commissioner was authorized to investigate possible rule violations, impose sanctions, and preside over arbitration proceedings that challenged the sanctions that he imposed. The court stated that, although such a regime was unusual, it was the system the parties had agreed upon, and the court’s role was not to question it."

************************************************************

A precedent has already been set. I doubt then that Watson will receive any benefit of the doubt regarding any significant stay order.
 
CloakNNNdagger said:
If Team Watson wasn't concerned over a significant possibility of a long suspension, they wouldn't have leaked the lawsuit threat.
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Well they think they’re invincible because they employed this same tactic to get him out of Houston. Not only did it work in his favor, he got paid the highest guaranteed contract in NFL history. Therefore, you can best believe they’re full of themselves.
 
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If they sue in federal court, and the suspension is on hold until judgement, do they not risk losing a LOT of money in 2023 salary?

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I thought there was an article three to four pages back that stated that suspended or not the Browns had to pay him the entire 230 million regardless of outcome?
 
amazing80 said:
That's what I was thinking. His salary jumps in year 2, doesn't it?
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I posted this a while back.

CloakNNNdagger said:
Agent’s Take: Deshaun Watson’s potential suspension carries various financial consequences
Sports / By admin

A key step in resolving Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson’s 2022 season playing status is taking place. A disciplinary hearing to determine if Watson is violated the NFL’s policy of personal conduct the behavior began on Tuesday.
Watson has faced 24 civil lawsuits for alleged sexual misconduct during massage sessions held while he was with the Houston Texans. Twenty out of 24 cases were settled last week. Two grand juries in Texas have refused to file a criminal complaint against Watson, who denied any crime, earlier this year.

Retired U.S. District Court Judge Sue L. Robinson, who was jointly appointed by the NFL and NFLPA, is leading the hearing. The procedure is expected to take several days.
Procedurally, the NFL was required to notify Robinson, Watson, and the NFLPA of its recommended discipline at least 10 days prior to the hearing, under the NFL Collective Agreement. There are several reports that the NFL is looking for indefinite suspension lasting at least one year. Talks between the NFL and NFLPA / Watson prior to the hearing did not lead to a settlement.

There is no set schedule for Robinson to make a decision. Ideally, a verdict will be handed down before the Browns open training camp on July 27th. A finding that there is no policy violation, which does not seem likely, would be the final solution to the case.

Both parties have three working days to appeal in the event of disciplinary action. Commissioner Roger Goodell or someone he appoints as his nominee would preside over the appeal, with the freedom to increase, decrease or confirm Robinson’s sentence.

Signing bonus revocation / cancellation of guarantees

Whether Watson gets a one-year suspension or is allowed to play football this season, the $ 44.965 million bonus in a fully guaranteed five-year, $ 230 million contract he signed in March as part of his trade with the Texans is not compromised because the way which contract is structured. Watson’s salary guarantees will not be revoked in either case.

This is due to the specific language in Watson’s contract. The relevant sign-up bonus language is as follows.

“… a suspension by the NFL solely in respect of items disclosed to the club in writing in accordance with paragraph 42, resulting in the inaccessibility of the club’s players only for games during the 2022 or 2023 NFL years will not subject the Player to a forfeiture of the bonus for signature. “

Without this language, the Browns would be entitled to ask Watson for an $ 8.993 million signing bonus attributed to the 2022 salary cap with a one-year suspension. That would be one-eighteenth of the $ 8.993 million signing bonus attributed to the 2022 pay limit for each week of the 18-week regular season that Watson missed with a shorter suspension. For example, a suspension of eight games would give the Browns a chance to recoup $ 3,996,889 (or an eighteenth of $ 8,993 million) from Watson.

Technically, Watson did not receive any signature bonus. Fifteen million is due on July 31. Another $ 15 million is due on January 31, and the final $ 14.965 million will be paid on March 31 next. Wage deferrals do not affect the exemption.

Suspensions are without salary, but that refers to the basic salary. Since Watson’s base salary for 2022 is $ 1.035 million, he will lose $ 57,500 (or one-eighteenth of $ 1.035 million) for each week he misses due to the suspension.
The appropriate language that protects Watson’s warranties from cancellation is below.

“… this shall not constitute a failure or refusal to train or play with the club and the player will not be left behind if: … (iii) the player is suspended solely in respect of matters disclosed to the Club in writing in accordance with paragraph 42, resulting in the unavailability of players for the club only for games during the 2022 or 2023 NFL years. “

The language is significant because it prevents Browns from potentially leaving the contract without major consequences for the restriction due to misconduct that was known before the trade. Probably any additional allegations regarding massage sessions while Watson was with the Texans would not qualify as a new offense.

In other words, the Browns can’t get out of the deal because of the accusations stemming from the massages. Practically speaking, the Browns would not have done so even if it had been possible after giving up the peaks in the first round of 2022, 2023 and 2024, the peak of the fourth round in 2022, the third round in 2023 and the fourth round in 2024 to win Watson and the sixth round round 2024.

These restrictions apply to the first two years of the contract. Should there be any discipline regarding these matters after 2023, the Browns will have the right to seek a refund for the signature from Watson and / or cancel the remaining guarantees in the contract.

Consequences of a one-year suspension

The biggest consequence of the one-year suspension is Watson’s contract, which currently runs until 2026. In essence, Watson’s contract would be frozen and resumed in 2023 with toll collection. This means that his contract year 2022 would become his contract year 2023, and additional contract years would also be moved back a year. Instead of Watson’s contract expiring after the 2026 season, he would terminate after the 2027 season.

Although the contract would have been postponed for a year, the proportion of the signing bonus of $ 8.993 million per year from 2022 to 2026 would remain intact. Watson’s salary limit for 2022 is 10.028 million dollars, and it consists of 8.993 million dollars, the proportion of the bonus on the salary and his basic salary of 1.035 million dollars. This basic salary would come out of the Cleveland books for 1.035 million dollars to reduce the limit for 2022.

Watson’s maximum number for 2023 would rise to $ 10.028 million with his base salary for 2022 moving to 2023 and his base salary of $ 46 million from 2023 shifted to 2024. Maximum numbers for 2024 to 2026 each would amount to $ 54,993 million, and the base would consist of a sign with $ 94 million8. bonus proration. The maximum number for 2027 would be 46 million dollars of the basic salary, which was originally for 2026.

Consequences of a shorter suspension

Another important consequence of the one-year suspension would be Watson’s expulsion from the training camp. That would not be the case with a suspension that would allow him to play football in 2022. Watson would be allowed to participate fully in training camp and play in the Browns ’preseason games. The suspension would not take effect until September 5, which is the day after the end of the pre-season training camps, as defined by the CBA.

Watson’s contract does not include a suspension where he will be able to play football in 2022. His contract will run as planned, which means that his contract will be terminated after the 2026 season. Watson would lose any basic salary not earned due to suspension. For example, a suspension of eight games would cost Watson $ 460,000 (or an eighteenth of $ 1,035 million) because he earns $ 57,500 each of the 18 weeks in the regular season.

Watson will be allowed to return to the team premises and participate in limited activities during the second half of the suspension. Permitted activities would be virtually the same as players suspended under the NFL’s substance abuse and performance improvement policies.

Most importantly, Watson could attend team meetings, practice individually with Browns strength and fitness coach, meet individually with Browns head coach Kevin Stefansky, offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt and quarterback coach Drew Petzing, and receive treatment / rehabilitation from medical staff and Browns coaches after a fourth game suspension of eight games. Prohibited activities during the entire suspension include attending, observing or participating in training, attending home or away matches, attending or participating in group training.
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Carr Bombed said:
Wow get off your freaking pedestal...

"Lip service".. no the outrage is real.. Let me spell it out, a sister, a p.o.s., after what he did a 10 year prison sentence.

He beat her so bad he fractured her skull, he should've been charged with attempted murder. How's that for lip service. But hey, you volunteered.. Everyone knows someone who has been abused, sadly you don't have to volunteer at a homeless shelter to experience it.
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No pedastal. People are only concerned when it hits close to home. Neither of my close family members have been involved in assault. 2 sisters,4 nieces,3 daughters. In my personal opinion, the nfl is about continuing to be teflon and the biggest watched tv event in north america. No different than the fake patriotism with the military.
 
steelbtexan said:
You didn't address the part of my post where this dragging out could help the Texans in the draft. (Shocking)

I'm also around a bunch of poor and abused women with what I do for work. Drug infested areas. So you don't have the market cornered on being the only person to 1st hand witness misery.

Faux outrage? I'm not mad now that he's gone. Never really was mad, in fact I said the McNair's got what they deserved for signing him to that contract, instead of making him play out his 5th yr option like I suggested at the time.
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I didn't address it because in my opinion based on the strength of their roster, even with Brissett, that team is .500 or close to it. Stepanski has shown to be an above average coach already. How many games did they win last year with a busted up Baker? 7 or 8? They will do that with Brisset if he has to play the entire season. Maybe they get distracted, maybe they don't, they seem unified from the owner to gm to coach right or wrong.
 
leebigeztx said:
Again, the Texans chose to pay this. They didnt have to. They could've pressed him and made him play. Speaking of the misery of the women, I can speak on that because unlike some,I've been volunteering at Star of Hope for over 20 years talking to homeless and abused women. When I talk about the fake outrage, it really is. There is alot of of self serving lip service thats in this thread. The NFL nor the Texans really care as is alot of posters
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leebigeztx said:
No pedastal. People are only concerned when it hits close to home. Neither of my close family members have been involved in assault. 2 sisters,4 nieces,3 daughters. In my personal opinion, the nfl is about continuing to be teflon and the biggest watched tv event in north america. No different than the fake patriotism with the military.
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Gatekeeping at its finest.

giphy.gif
 
leebigeztx said:
No pedastal. People are only concerned when it hits close to home. Neither of my close family members have been involved in assault. 2 sisters,4 nieces,3 daughters. In my personal opinion, the nfl is about continuing to be teflon and the biggest watched tv event in north america. No different than the fake patriotism with the military.
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And there are fans who aren’t concerned when it involves their favorite athlete.
 
badboy said:
I thought there was an article three to four pages back that stated that suspended or not the Browns had to pay him the entire 230 million regardless of outcome?
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More or less.

But if he's suspended it's the league that's blocking his pay. His salary. So the Browns structured Watson's contract so that his salary for 2022 is low & he was given a large bonus. The league can't block that bonus.

However, if he appeals & doesn't start serving his suspension until 2023, a larger part of his compensation will be affected by the league.
 
thunderkyss said:
More or less.

But if he's suspended it's the league that's blocking his pay. His salary. So the Browns structured Watson's contract so that his salary for 2022 is low & he was given a large bonus. The league can't block that bonus.

However, if he appeals & doesn't start serving his suspension until 2023, a larger part of his compensation will be affected by the league.
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According to following as i understand, DW has to be suspended beyond 2023 season before he loses any $ via suspension.

JWLCASPER said:
Sadly no. The issue is in how (and where) the funds are written into the contract. The bonuses/escalators are usually in one portion of the contract, usually paragraph 6-7-8 depending on team and prior contract language. Paragraph 5 (P5) is always the base salary.

In negotiations the discussion is always P5 salary vs other payouts. The signing bonus usually has its own section because it is a large, (Guaranteed) to be paid out dollar amount. These funds have to 100% be available to the player even if not paid out in one lump sum on one day (signing bonuses are usually paid on 2-3 days with months between them for cash flow purposes of the team) because it is guaranteed under contract law.

Other payouts can be listed as Workout bonus, Camp bonus, Roster bonus, Escalator bonus/payouts, etc etc and they can be deemed LTE or NLTE( likely to be earned or not likely to be earned.) NLTE doesn’t count against the cap or team cap estimates. If a player hits it -sometimes a subsequent move has to be made to clear funds, but for all normal purposes those NLTE can be hidden or pushed down the line.

P5 salary is base salary or game check salary. This is divided by 18 weeks and paid out weekly or bi-weekly. P5 salary is what is at stake when players are suspended. It is fully guaranteed outside of suspension.

As a contract norm, when a large signing bonus is granted to a player (in which case we have here with Deshaun) the team normally stretches it over the life of the contract (a team doesn’t HAVE TO stretch it or can stretch it over shorter amounts of time but most teams do over the full life of the contract (up to 5 years for those longer deals like Mahomes.) Here, Watsons 45 million will be stretched over 5 years of cap space, and will count 9 million a year against the team. But remember, this 45 million will be paid out within 1 year (usually 90-120 days) from signing the contract. Because of “cash flow” and salary cap magic, most GMs / cap negotiators will in turn look for lower P5 salaries in year 1 and sometimes 2 of the deal because “you the player were paid handsomely with a signing bonus up front and that bonus should cover you for 1-2 years while we utilize the savings from your low P5 salary to add other pieces to our team.”

What the Browns did here is contract norm in NFL extensions/renegotiations. The issue is the optics. Nothing the Browns did was outside the bounds of standard contract talks. The issue was Watson’s actions and his legal issues and the fact he had just signed a contract and there was no need to renegotiate except for the likely fact it’s the only way he would waive his No Trade Clause to Cleveland. Cleveland will die on this sword and there is nothing the league can do about year 1. The issue was that Cleveland then guaranteed his contract for skill and injury throughout the life of the contract (instead of just year 1/2/3 for skill) and years 4/5 for injury only meaning after the first couple of years a team can let you go or force a renegotiation for any reason outside of catastrophic injury. Here, Watson is bulletproof for any reason for 5 years, skill (or sexual disposition) issues aside. The only way Cleveland doesn’t pay him is if the league voids the contract (it will never happen.) The only way this affects Watson is if the league or Cleveland suspends him outside of 2022-2023, which will cost him 2-3 million a game, but what is that drop in the bucket when he has 230 million guaranteed over 5 years.

Outstanding work by Mulugheta, regardless of what you think about him as a person / agent. He finessed Houston into a NTC and finessed Cleveland into 230 million guaranteed to waive the NTC. Bravo good sir. Methods aside, he did exactly what he is paid to do, maximize your client’s bottom line.
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Focus on last sentence before 'outstanding work by Mulugheta'.
 
paycheck71 said:
IIRC, in the deflategate case, TB sued the league in federal court and got to play a season before the case was heard. Then he had to serve his suspension the year after. Will be interesting to see how DW handles the press questions if he gets to play this year with all the pending cases against him.
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If he's suspended and files in Federal Court, the league can simply put him on the Commissioners exempt list until the case is heard stopping him from playing and making him liable to return all the funds if he should lose that case which is almost a guarantee.
 
djohn2oo8 said:
Florio is awful. Now he says 2-8 games

After reading his article he admits he got that from the Watson camp.
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Two games would have me question the Robinson’s reasoning. I understand she has more information in front of her than the general public.

I never thought Watson was so arrogant that he would continue with all the negative press rather than move on from this bad judgment on his part. Either way it was Watson that chose to have multiple massages from women he solicited. I know there are also males in this industry, why didn’t he solicit them?

Glad this individual is off the team but his poor judgment still surround this city and team.




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I'm hoping that someone is picking up on the following, embedded in the Personal Conduct Policy regarding the threat of retaliation by lawsuit by Team Watson:

"In conducting investigations, the league office will make reasonable efforts to safeguard requests for confidentiality from witnesses and others with information. In addition, the league will not tolerate any retaliation against anyone who in good faith reports a possible violation or provides truthful information during an investigation. Any person who directly or indirectly through others interferes in any manner with an investigation, including by retaliating or threatening to retaliate against a victim or witness, will face separate disciplinary action under this policy. Prohibited retaliation includes, but is not limited to: threats, intimidation, harassment, or any other adverse action threatened, expressly or impliedly, or taken against anyone who reports a violation or suspected violation of this Policy or who participates in an investigation of a complaint."
 
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badboy said:
According to following as i understand, DW has to be suspended beyond 2023 season before he loses any $ via suspension.


Focus on last sentence before 'outstanding work by Mulugheta'.
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No... that sentence is referring to the 2022 season that ends in 2023. It is not talking about the 2023 season. Look at how his contract is structured. Suspension only affects his salary.
 
badboy said:
nope he is what got out of the barn before the door was closed... it will be interesting if Watson was able to get out before door closed to barn.
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badboy said:
nope he is what got out of the barn before the door was closed... it will be interesting if Watson was able to get out before door closed to barn.
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Are we talking about two different things? Because I feel like we are talking about two different things.

I referring to the post that said people were fake with their outrage, basically didn’t really care about women because they didn’t volunteer, and were really only upset because they were bitter about Watson. At least that is what I got from the two posts.

I was referring at those posts as gate keeping which I believe means when a person gives you a permission to feel and act a certain way with their permission.

The gif was for humor.
 
CloakNNNdagger said:
I'm hoping that someone is picking up on the following, embedded in the Personal Conduct Policy regarding the threat of retaliation by lawsuit by Team Watson:

"In conducting investigations, the league office will make reasonable efforts to safeguard requests for confidentiality from witnesses and others with information. In addition, the league will not tolerate any retaliation against anyone who in good faith reports a possible violation or provides truthful information during an investigation. Any person who directly or indirectly through others interferes in any manner with an investigation, including by retaliating or threatening to retaliate against a victim or witness, will face separate disciplinary action under this policy. Prohibited retaliation includes, but is not limited to: threats, intimidation, harassment, or any other adverse action threatened, expressly or impliedly, or taken against anyone who reports a violation or suspected violation of this Policy or who participates in an investigation of a complaint."
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This includes the Judge, league investigators, and the NFL. This was not a wise move from the Watson camp as it is grounds for a separate disciplinary action to attempt to intimidate and influence the NFL’s and Judge Robinson’s decision during an investigation.
 
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