[PHOTO: William West]
Tiger Woods’ ex-girlfriend has dropped her sexual harassment lawsuit against the golfer.
Erica Herman had filed a lawsuit in March alleging a non-disclosure agreement she signed should be declared unenforceable under the federal Speak Out Act. The act, which prevents the enforcement of NDAs in instances of sexual assault and harassment, was signed into law in December 2022. In May a circuit judge ruled against Herman, writing that Herman had failed to “provide factual specificity” regarding any accusation, but in September Herman filed a brief in a Florida appeals court, asserting Woods failed to provide evidence of an arbitration agreement.
However, in a notice filed in Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal to drop the brief, Herman said she “was never a victim of sexual harassment or sexual abuse at the hands of Tiger Woods or any of his agents, and it is her position that she never asserted a claim for such”.
The move puts an end to the year-long battle between Herman and Woods, which started in October 2022 when Herman had filed a complaint against Jupiter Island Irrevocable Homestead Trust—a trust that Woods controls—alleging that the entity was in violation of the Florida Residential Landlord Tenant Act, with Herman seeking more than $US30 million for damages suffered. She claimed “by trickery, agents of the Defendant convinced the Plaintiff to pack a suitcase for a short vacation and, when she arrived at the airport, they told her she had been locked out of her residence”. That complaint was dropped in July.
Herman was the general manager at Woods’ restaurant, The Woods Jupiter, and was first publicly seen with Woods at the 2017 Presidents Cup. She alleged in court documents that when they began to have a personal relationship, Woods and his lawyers required her to sign the NDA and threatened to fire her if she didn’t sign.
Woods, who turns 48 at the end of next month, has not competed since the 2023 Masters as he continues to rehab after surgery on his ankle in April.
