Tiger Woods’ Ex-Girlfriend Erica Herman’s Lawsuits Against Him And His Trust, Explained

Topline

Erica Herman, Tiger Woods’ reported ex-girlfriend, filed a civil suit this week against Woods to cancel a non-disclosure agreement she and Woods signed at the beginning of their relationship, months after she sued Woods’ housing trust in October for allegedly kicking her out of their shared home.

Key Facts

Herman sued Woods’ Jupiter Island Irrevocable Homestead Trust, which owns the title of the house she and Woods’ shared in Hobe Sound, Florida, for $30 million in October after she claims the trust broke a verbal agreement she had with Woods to be able to stay on the property.

Herman’s complaint claims people connected with Woods’ and the trust tricked her, telling her to pack a bag for a “short vacation” before taking her to the airport, only to have lawyers explain she had been locked out of the house.

Herman claims her belongings were subsequently removed from the property, the BBC reports, and $40,000 of her money was cash was also taken from the home after representatives of Woods’ trust claimed she obtained the money unethically.

In December, Woods’ trust tried to dismiss the suit, arguing it violated an NDA Herman signed in August 2017, promising she agreed to resolve any disputes with Woods in private.

Woods’ camp also suggested Herman’s complaints only arose after Woods’ broke up with her and told her “that she was no longer welcome in” the home.

Herman argues Woods’ trust used the NDA to try to prevent her from making a case against them.

Surprising Fact

Herman asked the court to declare the “purported arbitration clause” of the NDA, which is not available to the public, void under the federal Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 and the federal Speak Now Act, which both became enforced in 2022. Both acts void any agreements that stop people from speaking out in the case of sexual assault or harassment. But Herman has not alleged any assault or harassment, and in Herman’s October suit, her attorney also indicated that suit had nothing to do with sexual assault or harassment allegations, CNN reports.

Key Background

Herman worked at Wood’s restaurant—The Woods Jupiter—before the couple began dating in 2017. The two haven’t been seen together since they attended the U.S. Open in August, the BBC reports, and representatives of Woods’ trust claim he broke off the relationship in October, when Herman alleges she was evicted.

Big Number

$1.1 billion. That’s how much Tiger Woods is worth, according to Forbes, making him golf’s only billionaire. Woods was the world’s highest paid golfer, and tied with Aaron Rodgers for the No. 14 on Forbes’ 2022 Highest Paid Athletes list, at $68 million, until July 2022, when the Saudi-owned LIV Golf tournament started paying athletes millions of dollars to break their PGA contracts. Now, Forbes says Phil Mickelson is the world’s highest-paid golfer, and Woods is fifth.

Further Reading

Tiger Woods’ ex-girlfriend has lawsuits against golfer and trust (CNN)

The World’s Highest-Paid Golfers 2022: LIV Golf Reshuffles Top Earners And Sends Pay Soaring (Forbes)