According to recently disclosed court documents, Tiger Woods’ ex-girlfriend Erica Herman says he locked her out of his Florida house after she went for a “short vacation,” all under the guise of going through a harsh and unexpected split.
Their months-long legal battle, which had been kept under wraps until now, became public knowledge on Wednesday when Herman, 38, fought to have a non-disclosure agreement she signed in 2017 thrown out in court.
In October of last year, Herman filed a landlord complaint against Woods, 47, saying he had wrongfully evicted her from his spacious Jupiter mansion using “trickery” and then refused to let her back in. The Post obtained court records detailing their legal struggle.
Woods’ trust workers “persuaded [Herman] to pack a suitcase for a quick vacation and, when she arrived at the airport, they told her she had been locked out of the home, in contravention of the oral lease agreement and violation of Florida law,” according to court documents.
Herman alleges that Woods covered her hotel bills and other expenses for a short while until he “frightened her away” from the property.
Workers working for Woods have been accused of taking $40,000 in cash that properly belonged to her and then making “scurrilous and defamatory charges about how she acquired the money,” according to court documents.
According to the landlord’s petition, Herman claimed that she and the golf star had an “oral agreement” permitting her to remain in the property for a total of 11 years and that she still had five years remaining on the lease when the couple split up.
Due to the remaining time on her 5-year contract, Herman claimed in court filings that she was entitled to about $30 million.
The attorney for Woods responded to the ex-accusation girlfriend’s that Herman removed her belongings from the residence after Woods broke up with her and told her “she was no longer wanted in the household”
According to Woods’ lawyer, Herman has no legal standing to claim that she was a tenant since in Florida, oral leasing agreements are null and void after a year.
His attorneys later filed a separate case asserting that the NDA Herman signed at the commencement of their engagement in August 2017 mandates arbitration for any disputes between the parties.
The Trust said in a motion filed in October that Herman was seeking to “gain authority by litigating her difficulties with Mr. Woods in a public setting” by bringing suit against the Trust rather than Woods.
As of January 19th, Herman’s legal team had filed a motion requesting the court to rule on the arbitration agreement’s enforceability, citing sexual assault and harassment legislation as the reason the case could not be settled through arbitration.
On Monday, Herman went to court to have her NDA voided by using the Speak Out Act, which renders non-disclosure agreements unenforceable in circumstances of sexual assault or harassment.
No allegations of violence or harassment appear to be included in the court documents.
The Post sought comment from both Woods and Herman’s agents, but neither side has yet responded.
Herman, who has been dating the golfing champion for more than five years, has launched a new action in which she seeks clarification on the degree to which she may reveal their connection in the public domain.
Herman’s attorneys are concerned that even if the NDA is upheld as valid, Herman may still be prohibited from sharing information she acquired from “sources” who are not bound by the agreement.
At the end of the month, Woods will have the opportunity to respond to Herman’s latest accusation.