(CNN) — Erica Herman, the longtime girlfriend of professional golfer Tiger Woods, has accused the 15-time golf champion of sexual harassment. majoraccording to a document filed Friday by Herman’s attorney in Florida.
Woods is accused of having a sexual relationship with Herman while she worked for him and then forcing her to sign a confidentiality agreement or be fired from her job, according to the document.
Herman was an employee at his South Florida restaurant, The Woods Jupiter, at the time.
“Tiger Woods, the internationally renowned athlete and one of the most powerful figures in world sport, decided to have a sexual relationship with his employee, and then – according to him – forced her to sign a confidentiality agreement about it or else he would be dismissed from her job,” the court document from Friday said. “And, when he became disgusted with her sexual relationship, he tricked her into leaving her home, locked her out, took her cash, her pets and her personal possessions, and tried to force her to sign a different NDA”.
“A boss imposing different working conditions on his employee because of their sexual relationship is sexual harassment,” Herman’s attorney, Benjamin Hobas, said in the filing.
Tiger Woods and Erica Herman together in Orlando, Florida on September 14, 2019. Douglas DeFelice/USA TODAY/Reuters
CNN reached out to representatives for Woods for comment but did not immediately hear back.
The document also claims a “scheme” that was used against Herman last year in which Woods asked him to pack his bags for a weekend getaway to the Bahamas. They took her to the airport and asked her to speak with Woods’ lawyer.
“Then Mr. Woods’ lawyer in California, out of the blue, told her that she was not going anywhere, that she would never see Mr. Woods again, that he had locked himself out of the house and that he couldn’t come back.” the document said. “She wouldn’t even be able to see the children or her pets again.”
Herman was asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement, which he refused, according to the document.
Herman has filed two different complaints involving Woods in the past year.
The first, which he filed in October 2022, claims that a trust owned and created by the golf star violated Florida’s Residential Landlord Law by breaking his verbal lease agreement to continue living in Woods’ home.
As part of that lawsuit, a trustee of Woods’ trust, Christopher Hubman, asked the court to order Herman to arbitrate his claims pursuant to an arbitration provision in a nondisclosure agreement he signed in 2017.
In a previous brief, Herman cited a statute that says claimants in sexual harassment or assault disputes cannot be compelled to arbitrate those claims.
In the most recent lawsuit, filed in March, Herman argues that the 2017 agreement is unenforceable in part because of a new federal law that invalidates arbitration clauses in sexual assault or sexual harassment cases.
CNN’s Jean Casarez contributed to this report.
(CNN) — Erica Herman, the longtime girlfriend of professional golfer Tiger Woods, has accused the 15-time golf champion of sexual harassment. majoraccording to a document filed Friday by Herman’s attorney in Florida.
Woods is accused of having a sexual relationship with Herman while she worked for him and then forcing her to sign a confidentiality agreement or be fired from her job, according to the document.
Herman was an employee at his South Florida restaurant, The Woods Jupiter, at the time.
“Tiger Woods, the internationally renowned athlete and one of the most powerful figures in world sport, decided to have a sexual relationship with his employee, and then – according to him – forced her to sign a confidentiality agreement about it or else he would be dismissed from her job,” the court document from Friday said. “And, when he became disgusted with her sexual relationship, he tricked her into leaving her home, locked her out, took her cash, her pets and her personal possessions, and tried to force her to sign a different NDA”.
“A boss imposing different working conditions on his employee because of their sexual relationship is sexual harassment,” Herman’s attorney, Benjamin Hobas, said in the filing.
Tiger Woods and Erica Herman together in Orlando, Florida on September 14, 2019. Douglas DeFelice/USA TODAY/Reuters
CNN reached out to representatives for Woods for comment but did not immediately hear back.
The document also claims a “scheme” that was used against Herman last year in which Woods asked him to pack his bags for a weekend getaway to the Bahamas. They took her to the airport and asked her to speak with Woods’ lawyer.
“Then Mr. Woods’ lawyer in California, out of the blue, told her that she was not going anywhere, that she would never see Mr. Woods again, that he had locked himself out of the house and that he couldn’t come back.” the document said. “She wouldn’t even be able to see the children or her pets again.”
Herman was asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement, which he refused, according to the document.
Herman has filed two different complaints involving Woods in the past year.
The first, which he filed in October 2022, claims that a trust owned and created by the golf star violated Florida’s Residential Landlord Law by breaking his verbal lease agreement to continue living in Woods’ home.
As part of that lawsuit, a trustee of Woods’ trust, Christopher Hubman, asked the court to order Herman to arbitrate his claims pursuant to an arbitration provision in a nondisclosure agreement he signed in 2017.
In a previous brief, Herman cited a statute that says claimants in sexual harassment or assault disputes cannot be compelled to arbitrate those claims.
In the most recent lawsuit, filed in March, Herman argues that the 2017 agreement is unenforceable in part because of a new federal law that invalidates arbitration clauses in sexual assault or sexual harassment cases.
CNN’s Jean Casarez contributed to this report.
