Tiger Woods’ former girlfriend Erica Herman claimed in her most-recent filing in a south Florida court that Woods sexually harassed her while she was working for him.
Citing a new federal law called “Ending Forced Arbitration Act,” Herman’s attorneys argued in a motion filed Friday in Martin (Fla.) County court that she is entitled to a public trial to settle her contract dispute with Woods. Attorneys for Woods have argued that the dispute must be decided in private arbitration based on a non-disclosure and acknowledgement (NDA) agreement between Woods and Herman.
Herman’s attorneys argued in Friday’s motion that the federal sexual harassment act was created “to prevent a plaintiff like Herman from being forced into arbitration by a former boss and sexual partner related to her employment and sexual relationship.”
“A boss imposing different work conditions on his employee because of their sexual relationship is sexual harassment,” Herman’s motion claimed.
On Monday, attorneys for Woods claimed 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.”
Monday’s motion from Woods’ legal team also challenged Herman’s use of the federal statute, arguing that Herman “has never asserted any claims for sexual assault or sexual harassment … and, if she is truthful, can never do so.”
According to Friday’s motion, Woods hired Herman in 2014 to help launch his restaurant, The Woods Jupiter. After the restaurant opened, she remained employed as director of operations. Two years later, Herman moved in with Woods after the two began a romantic relationship, and attorneys for Woods claimed the two signed the NDA in 2017.
Last October, “a dispute arose” between Woods and Herman, and according to Herman’s motion, Woods “called a California attorney to unceremoniously eject Herman from the house through trickery and break up with her for him.”
The motion questions the authenticity of the NDA, pointing out that Woods “submitted nothing to authenticate [the NDA] … and in its heavily redacted state, it cannot be a true and correct copy.”
The three-page NDA that was submitted to the court has more than a page and a half of redactions and has signatures from both Woods and Herman on Aug. 9, 2017. Attorneys for Herman claim she does not remember signing the NDA.
There is a hearing in the lawsuit, which was originally filed late last year, scheduled for Tuesday before Judge Elizabeth Metzger.
