Ex-girlfriend: Woods used lawyer to break up

A $30 million legal battle between Tiger Woods and his ex-girlfriend has escalated, with Erica Herman accusing the golf superstar of beginning their sexual relationship when she was his employee and threatening to fire her if she didn't sign a nondisclosure agreement she now wants voided.

Herman, in court documents filed late Friday, also accused Woods of having his lawyer break up with her at an airport in October after falsely telling her they were going on a weekend trip. The lawyer then evicted her from Woods' $54 million mansion north of Palm Beach.

The documents were filed in advance of a scheduled hearing today where Woods' attorneys are expected to ask Circuit Judge Elizabeth Metzger to halt Herman's lawsuit against their billionaire client. They say the former couple's nondisclosure agreement requires all disputes be settled privately by an arbitrator, not in court.

Herman, who managed Woods' Palm Beach County restaurant before and during the first years of their romantic relationship, argues that the nondisclosure agreement is unenforceable under a new federal law that says such contracts can be voided when sexual abuse or sexual harassment occurred. Her attorney, Benjamin Hodas, contends that Woods' alleged threat to fire her if she didn't sign the contract was harassment.

“A boss imposing different work conditions on his employee because of their sexual relationship is sexual harassment,” Hodas said.

Herman, 39, is separately suing the trust that owns Woods' mansion for $30 million, saying he verbally promised in 2017 that she could live there for at least 11 years, but kicked her out after five.

Woods' attorney, denies that the 47-year-old golfer ever sexually assaulted or harassed Herman, calling her accusations in court documents, “utterly meritless.”

In Herman's lawsuit against Woods, she wants Judge Metzger to either void the nondisclosure agreement or at least give her guidance about what she can say publicly.