Tiger Woods’s Ex-Girlfriend, Erica Herman, Asks Court to Resolve Dispute Over NDA

Herman, 39, says that a non-disclosure agreement she signed in 2017 should be unenforceable under the federal Speak Out Act.

Tiger Woods is back in court, this time via ex-girlfriend Erica Herman. According to court records obtained by Sports Illustrated, Herman, 39, is looking for legal clarity in regard to her relationship with Woods that started in the fall of 2017, and she is alleging that a non-disclosure agreement she signed in 2017 should be unenforceable under the federal Speak Out Act.

Woods and Herman met when Herman worked as the general manager at Woods’s restaurant, The Woods Jupiter, and eventually a personal relationship evolved from their professional relationship.

In a complaint for declaratory judgement filed in Circuit Court at Martin County Florida on March 6, Herman is challenging a Non-Disclosure and Acknowledgement Agreement dated on August 9th, 2017, when Herman was an employee at Woods’s restaurant.

According to the complaint, a trust controlled by Woods has taken the position that the Woods NDA is enforceable against Herman.

Herman is challenging the validity of the NDA and is also unclear about her obligations and rights under the NDA if it’s determined to be valid.

Specifically, Herman contends that she is unsure what information about her life she may discuss, and with whom, under the NDA.

In the request for declaratory judgement, Herman is asking for the court to find that the NDA is not valid or enforceable. And if it’s found enforceable, she would like clarity around the specific scope of the NDA and if she can make certain disclosures about her experiences, those of her family members, photographs and recordings of herself and her family members, information about persons not covered specifically under the NDA and information that Woods may have disclosed to others.

Herman is also asking the court to use the federal Speak Out Act that was passed at the end of 2022 to find that the Woods NDA is not judicially enforceable.

The Speak Out Act, which was signed into law on December 7, 2022, renders unenforceable non-disclosure and non-disparagement clauses related to allegations of sexual assault and/or sexual harassment and that are entered into “before the dispute arises.”

The complaint also asks that the arbitration clause in the NDA be deemed unenforceable and the case must be decided by the court under the Federal Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021.

The act, which was signed into law on March 3, 2022, provides individuals asserting sexual assault or sexual harassment claims under state law the option to bring those claims in court even if they had agreed to arbitrate such disputes before the claim arose.

Herman is not making any legal claims against Woods in the complaint, but in attempting to use the Federal Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 against the arbitration provision of the NDA, it seems likely that Herman is contemplating bringing claims of sexual assault or sexual harassment.

Herman accompanied Woods to all three of his major-championship appearances in 2022, and was on site at Sawgrass one year ago for Woods’s induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame. It’s not known when they broke up. The complaint lists both Herman and Woods as residing at the same address.

Woods has 20 calendar days as of March 6 to file a written response to the complaint.

Woods’s agent, Mark Steinberg, and Herman’s attorneys did not respond to SI’s request for comment.