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- A judge is weighing whether to void an NDA that Tiger Woods ex Erica Herman purportedly signed.
- Herman alleges sexual harassment in their relationship, which could invalidate the agreement.
- Woods says their dispute needs to go into private arbitration.
STUART, Florida — An attorney representing Erica Herman in her lawsuit to void or clarify a nondisclosure agreement she purportedly signed with Tiger Woods said in circuit court Tuesday that his client had more, not-yet-revealed details of sexual harassment allegations against the golf champion.
Herman's attorney, Benjamin Hodas, said he couldn't share the "facts that involve the sexual harassment problem" because of the NDA, even though he said his client did not remember signing the document and contested whether it was real.
Most of Tuesday's 45-minute hearing in court centered over the validity of the NDA. Herman's team wanted the judge to allow them to determine whether the document was authentic and to clarify what she was allowed to say about Woods publicly. They also allege, however, that the NDA should be invalidated because of the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, or the "Speak Out" Act.
Under the federal law, judges can rule NDAs unenforceable in instances of sexual harassment or assault. Herman has alleged sexual harassment occurred during her relationship with Woods, both in how it started and how it ended.
Hodas indicated in court Tuesday that more details about the allegations existed, after the judge presiding over the case, Elizabeth Metzger, said she needed more information. "We are not going to put into writing any details of those disputes until we have clarity" on the scope of the NDA, Hodas said.
Metzger declined to issue a ruling over the validity of the NDA from the bench but could still decide the case as soon as Tuesday afternoon. She warned the Herman legal team that the federal law in question wouldn't apply retroactively — meaning if the incidents of sexual misconduct happened before 2022.
"Certainly, events that occurred subsequent there too, would be covered by it," Hodas replied.
Metzger appeared to be leaning toward sending the dispute into private arbitration, as the NDA specifies. That would mean the remainder of the former couple's legal proceedings would be private rather than take place in what could potentially be a messy public trial before a judge or jury.
"I know you disagree with it being valid on its face, but when I look at the plain language of the agreement it seems as if the arbitration is very broad," Metzger said.
Woods' legal team, led by JB Murray, argued that the NDA was valid and called Herman a "jilted ex-girlfriend" in court documents. They've asked for the lawsuit to be dismissed and called the sexual harassment claims "utterly meritless."
Ahead of the hearing they provided the judge with an unredacted version of the NDA, as well as emails that showed a back-and-both negotiation in 2017 between Herman and Woods' team when the NDA was originally being written. In the emails, Herman expressed concern that she would be "heartbroken and jobless" if forced to sign the documents.
Rob McNamara, vice president for TGR Ventures and Woods' right-hand man, also attested in a court document that he'd seen the signed NDA.
The NDA would prohibit Herman from disclosing "private and confidential information which is not generally known to the public" regarding Woods' sexual matters, medical information, hobbies, and personal relationships.
Hodas didn't provide any evidence in court that the NDA wasn't valid, saying his team needed more time to analyze the document and couldn't definitively say Herman didn't sign it. The team asked to be able to uncover more evidence that Herman was involved in negotiating the terms of the agreement, and disputed McNamara's conclusion that he'd seen the full agreement rather than just Herman's signature.
Herman separately has sued a trust for Woods for $30 million after the golfer locked her out of the home where he was living in Jupiter Island, Florida. Woods invoked the NDA following the lawsuit to argue that the couple had to litigate the issue privately.
Neither Woods, 47, nor Herman, 38, were present for the court hearing. Woods recently underwent surgery on his ankle, taking him away from the golf course for several months. He hasn't commented publicly on the breakup.
Both Hodas and Murray declined to comment when reporters attempted to question them outside the courtroom.
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Herman alleges that the start and end of the relationship constituted sexual harassment
Herman accused Woods of sexual harassment in a court filing Friday, alleging that the two started a sexual relationship when Herman was still working for Woods at his restaurant and that he threatened to fire her in 2017 unless she signed the NDA.
"A boss imposing different work conditions on his employee because of their sexual relationship is sexual harassment," Herman's attorneys argue in the court filing.
Herman also alleged that their breakup amounted to sexual harrassment, saying Woods tricked her to get out of his home where she was living, and then locked her out.
According to court documents, Herman thought in October 2022 that she was going on a weekend trip to the Bahamas, only to find out at the airport that it wasn't true and to have one of Wood's attorneys inform her the relationship was over and then try to force her to sign another NDA. She was then locked out of the house, away from her personal property and pets, court documents allege.
Herman and her lawyers described Woods actions as sexual harrassment, saying Woods verbally promised she could live at the home for another five years while she provided "valuable services."
"The landlord made the availability of her housing conditional on her having sexual relationship with a co-tenant," Herman's attorneys wrote in court documents. "That conduct amounts to sexual harassment under federal and Florida fair housing laws."
Woods' team counters that Herman was a guest in his home.
The couple first met over six years ago when Herman was working on the launch of Woods' restaurant, the Woods Jupiter. She stayed on as director of operations, and she says she and Wood started dating in 2015. The two went public in 2017, after Herman moved in with Woods.
Herman said in court documents that Woods pressured her to quit her job to focus on their relationship, and she did so in 2020.
Woods, one of the most recognizable athletes in the world, has had a comeback on the golf course following a 2009 sex scandal, in which numerous women came out to say they'd had an affair with him when he was married to ex-wife Elin Nordegren.
Woods since has undergone several surgeries to treat lower-back pain and faced a DUI arrest in 2017, when painkillers were detected in his system. He was also in serious car crash in Los Angeles in 2021, in which he broke both of his legs.