Cover Image Source: (L) Getty Images | Andrew Redington | (R) Getty Images | Stuart Franklin
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on May 19, 2023. It has since been updated.
From romance to courtroom drama, this story escalated pretty quickly. Erica Herman, Tiger Wood’s ex-girlfriend, had filed a lawsuit in October 2022 alleging that Woods whom she first started dating in 2017 used “trickery” to kick her out of his home after their split in the fall of 2022. The split was shocking at the beginning and quickly developed into a messy lawsuit.
Lawsuit, Oral Tenancy Agreement and NDA
Herman claimed that Wood’s actions to “kick her out” violated their terms which gave her the right to stay in the athlete’s Hobe Sound, Florida, home for “a certain duration of time,” as per US Weekly. In the lawsuit, she claimed that Wood’s staff tricked her into taking “a short vacation” only to inform her at the airport that she was now locked out of the house and barred from entering it again. The Florida native is now suing the pro golfer’s trust that he had set up for this house for $30 million, claiming that the amount represents a “reasonable rental value” of her ex-boyfriend’s residence for the remaining five years of the oral tenancy agreement.
On the other hand, Wood’s lawyer claimed that the agreement only granted Herman access to his house while “she was dating him,” as per Hollywood Life. Another report by PEOPLE obtained files from which it is suggested that Erica wanted to nullify a non-disclosure agreement that Woods made her sign at the beginning of the relationship. In the same report, a source close to the golfer said “Tiger is very upset. Tiger is livid”. The insider also added that Tiger decided to call quits because he felt it “was stale for a long time.”
A response document to the above statement was then filed by Herman’s lawyers which read, “Herman claims she’s owed $30 million after the oral agreement was breached when the trust’s employees ‘locked her out of the residence, removed her personal belongings, and informed her she could not return.’ Herman also said that she had more than $40,000 in cash that was ‘misappropriated.'” The residence in concern is also the home of his two teenage sons with his ex-girlfriend Elin Nordegren.
What Was Erica Herman’s Sexual Harassment Case?
The NDA in question was allegedly forced on her to sign after Woods pursued a sexual relationship with her when she was an employee at his restaurant. Herman didn’t get into any details until very recently. At the court hearing in Stuart, Florida, on May 9, her attorney clarified his reluctance to discuss this as it may breach the disputed NDA that requires Herman to keep her private life with Woods confidential. “There are issues we have not filed with the court yet, facts, that involve the sexual harassment prong of the EFAA,” Hodas said, referring to the federal law called Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act. “Unfortunately, because of this document (the NDA), we’ve just been very careful on what allegations we make to the court, that we put in writing because, given the broad scope, at least on its face, of the purported (NDA), we don’t want to run afoul of any of those provisions,” he said as per USA Today.
Judge’s Decision On The NDA
Tiger Woods scored a victory in the court against his ex-girlfriend. A judge ruled that Erica Herman has dated him for five years and must comply with the NDA she signed during the relationship. However, Herman is not yet ready to back down and maintains that matters of sexual assault should not be subjected to NDA laws, meanwhile, Woods continues to hold his position as innocent.
