The former girlfriend of Tiger Woods has filed a 53-page brief in a Florida state appeals court in an effort to revive her public lawsuit against him after a judge threw it out in May.
The document was submitted by the attorney for Erica Herman, who argued that the trial court erred when it decided to push the dispute out of public court and into private arbitration.
The brief also restates that Herman, a former employee at Woods’ restaurant in Florida, was subject to sexual harassment from the famed golfer and therefore should not be compelled to resolve the dispute in private arbitration. Herman’s attorney cites a recently enacted federal law that invalidates non-disclosure agreements (NDA) and forced arbitration in cases of sexual assault or harassment.
“Congress recently passed the Ending Forced Arbitration Of Sexual Assault And Sexual Harassment Act of 2021, precisely to prevent a plaintiff like Ms. Herman from being forced into arbitration by a former boss and sexual partner related to her employment and sexual relationship,” said the brief from the attorney, Benjamin Hodas.
Erica Herman and Tiger Woods at the 2022 U.S. Open match between Serena Williams and Anett Kontaveit at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City. (Photo: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
What is the issue with Tiger Woods?
Herman previously argued that Woods pursued a sexual relationship with her when she was his employee and then forced her to sign a non-disclosure agreement about it – or be fired from her job if she did not.
The purported NDA between them from 2017 required her to resolve disputes in private arbitration, but Herman has disputed the validity of that NDA and said she does not recall signing it.
“No one should be forced out of court and into arbitration without proof that they agreed to arbitrate,” said the brief recently filed in Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal. “But that happened here. The trial court allowed the Appellee (Tiger Woods) to force the Appellant (Erica Herman) out of court without even threshold evidence that he and she agreed to arbitrate. The burden was not high for the Appellee, but he failed to meet it.”
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Herman’s appeal stems from a lawsuit she filed against Woods in March that sought to have the NDA declared invalid. In October, she filed a separate lawsuit against the trust Woods established for his residence…
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