Tiger Woods and Erica Herman. Shutterstock (2)
Motion denied. A Florida judge rejected Tiger Woods‘ ex-girlfriend Erica Herman‘s attempt to have her nondisclosure agreement thrown out as the pair’s legal battle continues.
Circuit Judge Elizabeth Metzger came to the conclusion regarding Herman’s “vague and threadbare” argument on Wednesday, May 17, according to documents obtained by Us Weekly. “Herman has had the opportunity [to] provide factual specificity for any claim relating to sexual assault or sexual harassment, however, she has not done so,” Metzger wrote in the 11-page opinion.
The judge also declared that there is sufficient evidence that an agreement was negotiated between Herman, 39, and Woods, 47, in 2017 when their relationship began. As per Wednesday’s ruling, the former couple must resolve their lawsuits through private mediation.
In court docs filed earlier this month, Herman alleged that she was forced to sign an NDA in order to maintain her job at the golf pro’s restaurant in Jupiter, Florida. “Mr. Woods was Ms. Herman’s boss. … A boss imposing different work conditions on his employee because of their sexual relationship is sexual harassment,” read the paperwork.
Herman alleged that the first instance of sexual harassment occurred in 2014. She further claimed that the four-time PGA Champ harassed her again when he allegedly kicked her out of their shared home in 2022.
Woods’ legal team previously shut down Herman’s “utterly meritless” attempt to nullify the exes’ agreement. In March, the former bartender asked for clarification regarding the “various legal claims she believes she has” about her split from the athlete, explaining that she was “unsure” about what details she could disclose.
Herman cited the Speak Out Act — which protects victims of sexual harassment and assault — as a reason to overturn the NDA. However, her initial lawsuit did not explicitly mention accusations of sexual misconduct.
In his response, Woods called the Florida native “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 docs also alleged that invoking the Speak Out Act was “a transparent abuse of the judicial process that undermines the purpose of the federal statute and those whom the statute seeks to protect.”
The pair’s breakup became public knowledge in March. Us confirmed that month that Herman sued Woods and his Jupiter Island Irrevocable Homestead Trust for $30 million in October 2022, claiming a violation of Florida’s Residential Landlord Tenant Act. She alleged that an “oral tenancy agreement” was in place, allowing her to remain in the $57 million home, which the trust obtained in 2017. Herman accused her ex of using “prohibited practices” to force her out of the mansion in the wake of their split.
Herman detailed Woods’ alleged “scheme” in docs filed on May 5, claiming that she was lured from the home “through trickery” following a “dispute” with the former PGA Player of the Year. She was supposedly instructed to pack for “a weekend excursion to the Bahamas.” At the airport, she was allegedly dumped by Woods’ lawyer and told “that she was not going anywhere, would never see Mr. Woods again, had been locked out of the house, and could not return.”
The twosome dated for five years before their messy split. A source exclusively told Us in March that Woods and Herman experienced “a breakdown in their relationship” and clashed “over time and money.”
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“Erica thought Tiger was never at home, and Tiger thought Erica was spending too much and living too lavish of a lifestyle,” per the insider, who noted that the former couple’s romance “started out very strong.”
