Tiger Woods‘ ex-girlfriend, Erica Herman, filed a lawsuit against the golf star in an effort to nullify a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) she says Woods made her sign in August 2017 when they started dating.
According to legal documents, obtained by ET, Herman filed the lawsuit against Woods on Monday in the Circuit Court of the 19th Judicial Circuit in Martin County, Florida, and cited the Speak Out Act as the reason the NDA should be voided, as the act protects victims of sexual assault or harassment.
While Herman has not made any such claims against Woods, Herman says nullifying the NDA will clear things up for her.
“Because of the aggressive use of the Woods NDA against her by [Woods] and the trust under his control, [Herman] is unsure whether she may disclose, among other things, facts giving rise to various legal claims she believes she has. She is also currently unsure what other information about her own life she may discuss or with whom. There is therefore an active dispute between [Herman] and [Woods] for which [she] needs a clarifying declaration from the court.”
The Speak Out Act was introduced to the floor of Congress in July 2022 and passed into law less than five months later. The act “prohibits the judicial enforceability of a nondisclosure clause or nondisparagement clause agreed to before a dispute arises involving sexual assault or sexual harassment in violation of federal, tribal, or state law.”
ET has reached out to attorneys for both Woods and Herman.
Woods and Herman, a former restaurant manager, started dating in August 2017. The following month, she was seen wearing a girlfriend/wife badge while flanking the golf legend at the Presidents Cup at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, New Jersey.
As a result of this week’s filing, other legal docs have come to light that shows the fractured relationship between Woods and Herman.
In a lawsuit filed last October, Herman claimed that “agents” of Woods used “trickery” to get her to leave the home for a “short vacation” only to then lock her out of the home they shared.
Herman claimed in the suit that the couple had an “oral agreement” that ensured she could live at the mansion for a total of 11 years, and she still had five years remaining when they split up.
She claims in the documents that Woods’ agents removed her belongings and “misappropriated in excess of $40,000 in cash,” and that being “denied” access to the residence has caused her “irreparable harm.” She argued in the lawsuit that she is entitled to compensation of roughly $30 million.
In November, Woods filed a motion to dismiss Herman’s lawsuit.
Woods was previously linked to Lindsey Vonn before they split in 2015, and he was married to model Elin Nordegren for six years (they share two children — daughter Sam, 14, and son Charlie, 13) before a cheating scandal torpedoed the marriage, which ended in divorce in 2010.
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