The legendary professional golfer Tiger Woods is now facing a sexual harassment allegation from Erica Herman, his former, longtime girlfriend.
The allegation was made in a new court filing, according to Sports Illustrated.
The background here is that Herman worked at Woods's restaurant in Jupiter, Florida, when the two met. And, now that the relationship is over, Herman is taking issue with a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) that Woods, apparently, had her sign in 2017 in order to keep her job.
Herman is now contesting the agreement in court.
In a new court filing obtained by Sports Illustrated, Benjamin Hobas - Herman's attorney - wrote:
Mr. Woods was Ms. Herman’s boss. On Mr. Woods’ own portrayal of events, he imposed an NDA on her as a condition to keep her job when she began having a sexual relationship with him.
Hobas went on to add, "A boss imposing different work conditions on his employee because of their sexual relationship is sexual harassment."
In other words, it appears that Hobas and Herman are arguing that the NDA is unenforceable because it amounted to "sexual harassment."
We'll see whether Herman succeeds with this claim. Sports Illustrated reports that there is "a relatively recent federal law that can void such agreements in the case of sexual abuse or harassment."
But, thus far, Herman has yet to detail any specific sexual misconduct allegation. And, it's unclear whether a NDA can constitute sexual harassment, as Hobas seems to allege above.
In addition to the above, Herman also appears to be trying to legally enforce an alleged oral agreement that she and Woods had in which Woods agreed to allow her to stay at his estate for five years.
According to Herman, however, Woods "tricked her into leaving her home, locked her out, took her cash, pets, and personal possessions, and tried to strong-arm her into signing a different NDA."
Herman says that Woods told her to pack her things for a trip to the Bahamas. And, when she did so, Woods drove her to the airport and told her to speak with his attorney before taking off.
Herman's lawsuit states:
Then, Mr. Woods’s California lawyer, out of the blue, told her that she was not going anywhere, would never see Mr. Woods again, had been locked out of the house, and could not return. he would not even be able to see the children or her pets again. While still in the hangar, ‘Ray Donovan with a pen’ proceeded to insult Ms. Herman, (advised) her she had no legal rights, and (tried) to force her to agree to a (different) non-disclosure and arbitration agreement.
Herman is seeking $30 million in damages.
