Tiger Woods’s ex-girlfriend Erica Herman has her attempt to throw out NDA rejected by judge

Tiger Woods’ ex-girlfriend, Erica Herman, was denied her request to have her non-disclosure agreement with the golf star nullified.

Herman, 38, who dated Woods, 47, for five years, is facing charges against him over a non-disclosure agreement she claimed was wrongly imposed on her, citing the Speak Out Act and alleged sexual harassment.

But late Wednesday night, in an 11-page opinion, circuit judge Elizabeth Metzger rejected Herman’s attempt to overturn the 2017 agreement, saying Woods had committed sexual harassment against her and called Herman’s allegations “vague and threadbare.”

“Herman has had the opportunity to provide factual specificity for any claim involving sexual assault or sexual harassment, but she has failed to do so,” Metzger wrote.

Metzger also said the evidence shows a non-disclosure agreement was negotiated between Herman and Woods in 2017, even though her attorney, Benjamin Hodas, now questions whether she actually signed it.

At a hearing on May 9, Hodas admitted that Herman signed an agreement, but he said she has no recollection of ever seeing Woods’ attorney in court.

Metzger said that if Herman had unequivocally denied signing the agreement, she would have ordered a hearing on that matter. But since Herman isn’t sure if she signed it or not, that’s a question for the arbitrator to decide.

Neither Hodas’ attorney nor Woods’ attorney, JB Murray, immediately responded to emails seeking comment late Wednesday. It is not known whether Hodas will appeal.

Herman, 39, had sued both Woods, 47, and the trust that owns his $54 million Florida mansion, demanding $30 million from the latter amid unspecified sexual harassment allegations. Forbes magazine estimates Woods’ net worth at $1.1 billion.

Herman, who managed Woods’ Palm Beach County restaurant before and during the early years of their romantic relationship, argues the nondisclosure agreement is unenforceable under a new federal law that says such contracts could become void when sexual abuse or harassment occurred .

She claimed in court documents that Woods threatened to fire her if she did not sign a non-disclosure agreement. Hodas argued that this is a form of harassment, where one employee is treated differently from another because they are in a sexual relationship.

But the sexual harassment allegation was barely mentioned at last week’s hearing. Metzger told Hodas she needed more information about what allegedly happened to think about it. Hodas said he could not give more information publicly for fear he would violate the non-disclosure agreement if it is eventually enforced.

Murray has called the allegation “completely worthless.”

In the Herman v. Woods lawsuit, she asked Metzger to nullify the non-disclosure agreement or at least give her advice on what to say publicly. She also argued that the contract only covers her working relationship with Woods, not their personal affairs.

In her lawsuit against the trust for illegal eviction, she bases her $30 million claim on how much it would cost to rent a property like the Woods beach house north of Palm Beach for the six years she was allegedly owned by the golfer. and then denied.

Before dating, Woods hired Herman in 2014 to help develop and operate the golfer’s sports bar and restaurant The Woods in nearby Jupiter — but they disagree on when their romantic relationship and cohabitation began.

Herman says in her court filings that their romantic relationship began in 2015 and that she moved into Woods’ nearly 30,000-square-foot (2,800-square-meter) mansion in the posh Hobe Sound community in late 2016. She says Woods verbally promised in 2017 that she could live there for at least another 11 years. Herman says Woods pressured her to quit the job in 2020 so she could spend more time caring for him and his children.

Woods says in his court documents that their romantic relationship began in 2017 and she moved in with him in August, around the time the disputed non-disclosure agreement was signed. In March 2017, Woods had the mansion transferred to the Jupiter Island Irrevocable Homestead Trust, an entity he created that has only himself and his two children as beneficiaries.

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