Tiger Woods’s ex-girlfriend, Erica Herman, has accused the golf legend of sexual harassment in her most recent court filing, according to court documents.
Herman is contesting a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) she signed in 2017 by stipulating the contract should be nullified because of sexual harassment she claims to have suffered at the hands of Woods.
Herman claims Woods sought a sexual relationship with her while she worked at a restaurant he owned in Jupiter, Florida. Herman claims her job at the establishment was conditional on her signing the NDA.
“Mr. Woods was Ms. Herman’s boss,’’ Herman’s attorney, Benjamin Hobas wrote in the court filing, obtained by Sports Illustrated. “On Mr. Woods’ own portrayal of events, he imposed an NDA on her as a condition to keep her job when she began having a sexual relationship with him. A boss imposing different work conditions on his employee because of their sexual relationship is sexual harassment.”
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Hobas continued, “Tiger Woods, the internationally renowned athlete and one of the most powerful figures in global sports, decided to pursue a sexual relationship with his employee, then – according to him – forced her to sign an NDA about it or else be fired from her job.”
One of the primary points of contention in the ongoing legal battle between Herman and Woods is the verbal agreement Herman claims she had with Woods, which allowed her to stay at his estate for five years.
That alleged agreement came apart late last year when Herman claims that Woods told her to pack her things for a trip to the Bahamas. Herman says she packed up, and Woods drove them both to the airport. However, after arriving there, Herman claims that Woods told her to talk to his attorney and left.
Tiger Woods and Erica Herman ride in a cart before the Pro-Am ahead of the PNC Championship at the Ritz Carlton Golf Club Grande Lakes on December 17, 2021, in Orlando, Florida. (Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)
“Then, Mr. Woods’s California lawyer, out of the blue, told her that she was not going anywhere, would never see Mr. Woods again, had been locked out of the house, and could not return,” her filing stated, according to USA Today. “She would not even be able to see the children or her pets again. While still in the hangar, ‘Ray Donovan with a pen’ proceeded to insult Ms. Herman, (advised) her she had no legal rights, and (tried) to force her to agree to a (different) non-disclosure and arbitration agreement.”
The filing continued, “And, when [Woods] became disgruntled with their sexual relationship, he tricked her into leaving her home, locked her out, took her cash, pets, and personal possessions, and tried to strong-arm her into signing a different NDA.
“When the sexual relationship ended, she was kicked out of her home.”