Tiger Woods' ex-girlfriend alleges sexual harassment against the golfer
Tiger Woods' former girlfriend Erica Herman recently accused him of sexual harassment. She stated that the golfer had a sexual relationship with her but forced her to sign a non-disclosure agreement to save her job at his restaurant.
As per reports, Herman's attorney Benjamin Hodas submitted a statement on Friday in a Florida state court. Hodas said as per USA Today:
"Mr. Woods was Ms. Herman’s boss. On Mr. Woods’s 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. A boss imposing different work conditions on his employee because of their sexual relationship is sexual harassment."
"Tiger Woods, the internationally renowned athlete and one of the most powerful figures in global sports, decided to pursue a sexual relationship with his employee, then – according to him – forced her to sign an NDA about it or else be fired from her job,” said the document filed by her attorney.
The document further states that once Tiger Woods became dissatisfied with their (sexual) relationship he misled her into leaving his residence and 'locked her out, took her cash, pets, and personal possessions' and forced her to sign a separate NDA.
Timeline of Tiger Woods-Erica Herman Lawsuit
Erica Herman initially filed the lawsuit against Tiger's Trust, which owns his residence in Jupiter, Florida. Herman used to work at Tiger's restaurant, The Woods. She also claimed that both had signed an oral tenancy agreement to live there for five years and Tiger can't force her out of their residence. She also demanded more than $30 million as damage compensation.
Tiger then initiated confidential arbitration proceedings in response to prove that Herman didn't have any legal claim to reside in his home and wasn't eligible for any financial compensation.
He argued that both signed a Non-Disclosure agreement, which meant both needed to resolve the dispute in confidential arbitration and not in a public court.
Herman claimed that the conflict involved sexual harassment and as per the new Speak Out Act, a newly passed federal law, the NDA was invalid on January 26. However, Herman's attorney had not made sexual harassment allegations in the initial lawsuit and had just cited the aforementioned federal laws.
To avoid going back into private arbitration, Herman needed to provide more details to the court about the sexual harassment allegations which she did in the latest document submitted on Friday.
The documents claim as per USA Today:
"The landlord made the availability of her housing conditional on her having sexual relationship with a co-tenant. That conduct amounts to sexual harassment under federal and Florida fair housing laws.
"The short summary of events here and the Defendant’s own linking of the purported agreement to his sexual motivations in both her employment and housing are sufficient to bring this case within the ambit of the Ending Forced Arbitration Act."
Tiger Woods' response is yet to be heard on the latest turn of events. Previously his attorney, J.B. Murray said in a court that there was no oral tenancy agreement signed between both, and the sexual harassment claims made by Herman were false.