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The effort to force all persons suing Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson to attach their names to their complaints apparently has achieved the intended goal, as to one of the 22 plaintiffs.
Lawyer Rusty Hardin says that one of the plaintiffs has dismissed her case.
“We believe we have names for 20 of the 22 lawsuits,” Hardin told Tom Pelissero of NFL Media. “We’ve got one dismissed and we’re looking for one [name].”
It’s unknown why one of the cases was dismissed, but it’s fair to surmise that the person who dismissed the case chose walking away over disclosing her name and potentially turning her life upside down. It’s also possible, but not likely, that the case was resolved via settlement.
The other interesting wrinkle here is that Hardin has opted to become a scoop merchant, telling only one reporter one specific piece of information in a not-so-subtle effort to nudge the coverage Hardin’s by helping reporters do their jobs and secure broader credit and acknowledgement for securing information. Issuing a general statement to a broader list of reporters gives no one credit for any specific development. Developing a short list of reporters to whom Hardin will selectively give information subtly recruits those reporters to refrain from expressing any criticism of the lawyer’s tactics or the merits of his client’s case.
UPDATE 10:43 a.m. ET: Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the case was not settled.
