Tiger Woods doesn’t seem to have much luck with women. His breakup with Erica Herman has gotten ugly as she claims the golfer sexually harassed her several times. If she proves sexual harassment, it will nullify a nondisclosure agreement she signed years ago.
Tiger Woods has denied the sexual harassment claims
Woods and Herman met when she was hired at Tiger’s Florida restaurant Woods Jupiter in 2014. The relationship eventually turned romantic.
“Mr. Woods was Ms. Herman’s boss. In Mr. Woods’s 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,” the court docs stated.
The papers also describe how the golfer tricked Herman to kick her out of his house. Her legal team claims kicking her out was also a form of sexual harassment.
“The scheme involved convincing Ms. Herman to pack for a weekend excursion to the Bahamas. He then drove her to the airport where a private plane was waiting. But instead of boarding the plane, Mr. Woods told Ms. Herman to talk to his lawyer, and Mr. Woods left.
“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. She would not be able to see the children or her pets again.”
The papers go on to state that Woods’s lawyer proceeded to insult Ms. Herman, advised her she had no legal rights, and tried to force her to sign a non-disclosure and arbitration agreement – which she refused to sign.
The docs state that Herman’s ejection from her home is considered sexual harassment because she was kicked out of the home when the sexual relationship ended.
They describe Herman as having a tenancy agreement with the trust that owns Woods’s home. “The landlord made the availability of her housing conditional on her having a sexual relationship with the co-tenant. That conduct amounts to sexual harassment under federal and Florida Fair Housing Laws.”
Herman’s team also cited Tiger Woods’ description of her as the “jilted ex-girlfriend” explaining “That peevish response is taken from the classic playbook of powerful men accused of sexual harassment who respond by belittling and insulting their victims.”
Erica filed papers to nullify the NDA from 2017 on. She cited the Speak Out Act which prohibits the enforcement of an NDA if sexual harassment or assault is involved.
Woods testified saying Herman is not a victim of sexual harassment. “Rather Ms. Herman is a jilted ex-girlfriend who wants to publicly litigate specious claims in court rather than honor her commitment to arbitrate disputes in a confidential arbitration proceeding,” the papers state.
Herman is suing Woods for $30 million claiming he broke an “oral tenancy agreement” that allowed her to live in their home for five more years.