Tiger Woods’ girlfriend, Erica Herman, wants to nullify a nondisclosure agreement following a six-year relationship with the professional golfer.
Attorneys for Herman filed a complaint seeking declaratory judgment on Monday in Martin county circuit court, according to online court records. The couple had been living together in the area, according to the complaint. Martin county is located directly north of Palm Beach county in Florida.
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Woods and Herman have not publicly announced the end of their relationship, which began in 2017. She had been seen regularly with him at major championships, such as the 2019 Masters he won for his 15th major and during his Presidents Cup captaincy in Australia later that year. But she was not at his Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas the first week in December, or at the Genesis Invitational he hosted at Riviera three weeks ago.
According to the complaint, a trust controlled by Woods is attempting to silence Herman with a nondisclosure agreement that she signed while involved in a personal and professional relationship with Woods. The complaint argues that the NDA should be nullified under a federal law that prohibits an NDA from being enforced when sexual assault or sexual harassment is involved.
Herman previously worked at his Woods Jupiter restaurant. The complaint does not provide details about what information Herman might want to disclose or make specific allegations against Woods.
The complaint says because of “aggressive use” of the NDA, Herman is unsure whether she can disclose “facts giving rise to various legal claims she believes she has”. It also says she is unsure what other information about her own life she can discuss and with whom.
Herman filed a separate complaint on 26 October accusing the trust established by Woods – the Jupiter Island Irrevocable Homestead Trust – of violating the Florida Residential Landlord Tenant Act.
She alleges they had an 11-year oral tenancy agreement, and that five years remained on it when she was removed from the property through what she described in the complaint as “trickery.”
Herman alleges Woods’ agents persuaded her to pack for a short vacation. She claims when she arrived at the airport, they told her she had been locked out of the house and was not to return. She also alleges the agents “attempted to justify their illegal conduct” by paying for a hotel room and certain expenses for a short period of time. The complaint says the agents removed her belongings and misappropriated $40,000 in cash that belonged to her, “making scurrilous and defamatory allegations about how she obtained the money.”
Woods’ manager at Excel Sports Management, Mark Steinberg, didn’t immediately respond to a phone call and text from the Associated Press seeking comment.