Tiger Woods is accused of sexual harassment by ex-girlfriend Erica Herman
Tiger Woods’ ex-girlfriend, Erica Herman, has accused him of sexual harassment.
Herman, 38, who dated the 15-time grand winner, 47, for nearly six years, filed the document late Friday through her lawyer, Benjamin Hobas in Martin County, Florida.
The filing is the latest in Herman’s case against the golf icon over a non-disclosure agreement she says is being wrongfully imposed on her, citing the Speak Out Act.
In the latest filing, Herman, who is suing the PGA Tour star for $30 million, alleged that Woods had a sexual relationship with her while she was his employee at his South Florida restaurant and forced her to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
In the document obtained by DailyMail.com, Herman’s attorney, Benjamin Hodas, wrote, “Mr. Woods was Mrs. Herman’s boss.
Tiger Woods’ ex-girlfriend (left), Erica Herman (right), has accused him of sexual harassment
Woods and Herman were together for six years, but split in October 2022
“Based on Mr. Woods’ own account of events, he put a non-disclosure agreement on her as a condition of keeping her job when she began having a sexual relationship with him. A boss who imposes different employment conditions on his employee because of their sexual relationship is sexual harassment.’
Hodas’s document added: “Tiger Woods, the internationally renowned athlete and one of the most powerful figures in global sport, decided to engage in a sexual relationship with his employee and then – according to him – forced her to sign a non-disclosure agreement. to sign. or else get fired from her job.
And when he became dissatisfied with their sexual relationship, he tricked her into leaving her home, locked her out, took her money, pets, and personal belongings, and attempted to forcibly arm her to sign another NDA. ‘
Woods has previously attempted to redirect the dispute to private arbitration in accordance with the non-disclosure agreement signed by his attorney in 2017.
However, Herman wants the court to rule that the non-disclosure agreement is invalid or unpredictable, including because she claims she was a victim of sexual abuse by him.
In the case filed in March to overturn the NDA she signed with him on August 9, 2017, Herman made the surprising claim that the 82-time PGA Tour winner had sexually assaulted her, but went no further. into details. what the alleged abuse entailed.
However, in a petition filed by Woods in the dispute over her claimed lease, Woods’ attorneys note that Herman has not filed any claims for sexual assault or sexual harassment in this particular lawsuit between landlord and tenant.
Herman, who worked at his restaurant The Woods Jupiter, also filed a lawsuit in October against the Jupiter Island Irrevocable Homestead Trust, the legal owner of his Hobe Sound mansion where the two lived together.
Herman is suing the trust she claims is managed by Woods, 47, for $30 million claiming that he tricked her into getting the Florida mansion where they lived together for six years after their October breakup.
Herman also filed a lawsuit in October against the Jupiter Island Irrevocable Homestead Trust, the legal owner of his mansion in Hobe Sound, where the two lived together.
Herman sued the Jupiter Island Irrevocable Homestead Trust, which owns the home in Hobe Sound where she lived with Woods for six years while they were together. Located on Jupiter Island, Hobe Sound has been home to former presidents and A-listers
She claimed she had a verbal agreement with Woods’ trust – the Jupiter Island Irrevocable Homestead Trust – who is the legal owner of his mansion in Hobe Sound where the two lived together, allowing her to live in the property for 11 years.
The latest filing in her lawsuit against Woods personally describes more of Herman’s version of events leading up to the breakup.
“The landlord made the availability of her home a condition that she had a sexual relationship with a co-tenant,” the document said.
“That conduct constitutes sexual harassment under federal and Florida fair housing laws.
“The brief summary of the events here and the fact that the defendant itself relates the alleged agreement to his sexual motivations in both her employment and housing are sufficient to bring this case within the scope of the Ending Forced Arbitration Act.”
In March, Woods filed a motion in the lawsuit in the 19th Judicial Circuit Court in Martin County, Florida for an order to compel arbitration of the case in the lawsuit against the trust.
In Herman’s filing on Friday, her attorney notes that Woods did not try to take their dispute over the breakup to arbitration when he kicked her out of the house in October.
“Instead, he called a California attorney — who promotes himself as ‘Ray Donovan with a pen’ — to unceremoniously evict Ms. Herman by deception and break up with him,” the document said.
“The plan involved convincing Mrs. Herman to pack for a weekend excursion to the Bahamas. She and Mr. Woods often traveled at short notice for quick escapes, and she had been told this would be another such trip. So she took a bare minimum, expecting to return home in a few days.’
Ray Donovan is a television character who is a professional ‘fixer’ for the rich and famous.
The filing then claims that Woods then drove her to the airport, but instead of getting on the plane with her, he told her to talk to his lawyer.
“Then Mr. Woods’ California attorney told her out of the blue that she wasn’t going anywhere, would never see Mr. Woods again, was locked out, and couldn’t go back,” her file reads.
“She wouldn’t even be able to see the kids or her pets anymore. While still in the hangar, “Ray Donovan with a pen” insulted Mrs. Herman, (told) her that she had no legal rights, and (attempted) to force her to agree to (another) non-disclosure and arbitration agreement. ‘
Her application stated that she refused to sign despite these “brutal and high-pressure tactics.”
“Importantly, neither Mr. Woods nor his attorney nor any of his other agents invoked a pre-existing arbitration agreement that day when they evicted Ms. Herman and took her personal effects and pets away,” the filing states.
Woods has two children, daughter Sam, 15, and son Charlie, 14, with his ex-wife Elin Nordegren.
Woods has two children wSam, 15, and Charlie, 13, (pictured with Woods and Herman following his post-World Golf Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in 2022)
Woods and Herman were together for six years after they were first spotted at the Presidents Cup in New Jersey in October 2017.
Once they started dating, the two became inseparable, with Herman regularly supporting him at golf tournaments.
Rumors first started swirling about them after Erica was spotted wearing a “player husband” badge, usually given to wives and girlfriends.
The following month, they went public about their relationship.
Woods’ lawyers state that he broke things off on October 13, 2022.