Tiger Woods sued by former girlfriend ‘who was forced to sign gagging order’
TIGER Woods was last night facing a court fight with an ex-girlfriend who is trying to overturn a nondisclosure agreement she claims she was forced to sign.
Erica Herman, 39, says she signed the agreement at the start of her relationship with the golf superstar which lasted up to six years. She claims the NDA should no longer be enforced in part due to a US law which provides an exemption where there is ‘evidence of sexual assault or harassment’. There is no suggestion she has accused Woods, 47, of any wrongdoing at this stage.
Her lawyers have filed documents at a court in Florida which say the couple had a ‘long relationship professionally and personally’ and Ms Herman was asked to sign the NDA in 2017.
The legal team claim that a private trust controlled by Woods ‘has taken the position in litigation that the...NDA is enforceable’.
They say that – ‘because of the aggressive use of the Woods NDA’ – Ms Herman is ‘unsure whether she may disclose, among other things, facts giving rise to various legal claims she believes she has’. They add: ‘She is also currently unsure what other information about her own life she may discuss or with whom, meaning she is unable to disclose details about their relationship.’
It is thought that Woods met Ms Herman when he opened a restaurant in Florida where she was the manager.
He previously divorced wife Elin Nordegren – the mother of his two children after their marriage hit the rocks in 2009 when Woods admitted being unfaithful.
He said at the time: ‘I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart.’ In 2021 he was seriously injured after being involved in a high-speed car crash in California.
He almost lost his leg and has struggled to play golf regularly ever since. Ms Herman was by Woods’ side when he was inducted into the Golf Hall of Fame in 2022, but the pair have not been pictured together in public since the US Open last August.
Woods’ agent was last night unavailable for comment.
‘Aggressive use of NDA’