Tiger Woods’ ex-girlfriend has accused him sexual harassment. She claims he had a sexual relationship while she was working for him and forced her to sign non-disclosure agreements about it. If she didn’t, she would have been fired.
“Mr. “Mr. According to Mr. Woods, she was forced to sign an NDA as a condition of her employment when she started a sexual relationship. Sexual harassment is when a boss makes his employee work under different conditions because of a sexual relationship.
The filing is a part of their dispute that began after they split up in October.
Herman was working at Woods’s restaurant The Woods in Jupiter, Florida when the couple began dating.
She sued in October 2017 the Florida trust Woods had established in 2017 for his Florida residence, not Woods.
Herman claimed in a public lawsuit that there was an oral agreement for her to remain at the residence another five years. She sued for more than $30,000,000 in damages, claiming that she was locked out by the landlord.
Benjamin Hodas, her attorney, filed a court document on Friday describing the complicated nature of the situation.
The document filed by the employee’s attorney stated that Tiger Woods, an internationally recognized athlete and one the most powerful figures of global sports, had decided to pursue sexual relations with his employee. He then, according to her, forced her to either sign an NDA or be fired from her position. “When he was dissatisfied with the sexual relationship he forced her to leave her house, lock her out and took her pets, cash and personal belongings. He also tried to force her into signing another NDA.”
According to documents filed by Woods’ attorney, Woods initiated a confidential arbitration proceeding in December to resolve the dispute according to the terms of the NDA they signed at the beginning of their relationship in 2017. The NDA allegedly requires that any dispute between them be resolved in private arbitration rather than public court. Herman’s lawyer raised questions on Friday regarding the NDA Woods’s attorney submitted in this case as an exhibit, and stated she did not remember signing it.
Herman dropped a bombshell in January into these private proceedings. She claimed the conflict was a “sexual harassing dispute,” which led the American Arbitration Association (AAA) to suspend these confidential proceedings. This new federal law can invalidate forced arbitral agreements in cases of sexual assault or harassment.
Herman filed a second lawsuit in March against Woods, asking the court to let her out of the NDA she had with him. She also cited in that case a federal law which can invalidate NDAs when there is sexual harassment or abuse.
Last year, these new laws were passed to prevent sexual predators using NDAs or forced arbitrations to conceal their sexual misconduct.
Herman did not make any specific accusations about Woods’s misconduct at first. When filling out the cover sheet of the lawsuit against Woods filed on March 6, Herman’s attorney cited these federal statutes instead and replied as follows.
The form asked “Does the case involve allegations of abuse sexual?”
He replied “Yes” without giving any further details.
Legal experts told USA TODAY Sports that in order to avoid a return to private arbitration and to allow her case to be heard in a public court, she would need to provide more detail about the alleged sexual harassment or abuse.
She filed her paperwork on Friday.
Her filing stated that “the landlord made her housing available conditional upon her having a sexual relationship with another co-tenant.” This conduct is sexual harassment in the eyes of federal and Florida fair-housing laws.
The short summary and the defendant’s own linkage of the purported contract to his sexual motives in her employment and housing is sufficient to bring the case under the Ending Forced Arbitration Act.
Woods’ lawyer, J.B. Murray did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In previous court documents, he stated that Herman was “not a sexual assault or abuse victim sought to be protected” by Congress.
He denied Herman’s oral tenancy and called her a “jilted former girlfriend” who made false claims. Herman’s court filings were also a way for Woods to be put under pressure, as Woods is known for his strict privacy.
Murray asks the court to send the matter back to private arbitration, as stipulated in their NDA.
“Ms. Herman argues she cannot be forced to arbitrate because of a new federal law that says a party to a arbitration agreement can’t be required arbitrate “a sexual assault dispute” or a “sexual harassment dispute.” Woods’ lawyer wrote this in a filing. “Ms. Herman’s position has no merit.”
Herman’s lawyer also stated that “Ms. Herman is entitled to compensation for sexual harassment, but she did not bring this case in order to recover any damages from Mr. Woods.”
