Tiger Woods split: Details emerge in legal battle with ex Erica Herman

Tiger Woods’ split from his long-term girlfriend Erica Herman is getting messy. 

Earlier today, TMZ reported that the couple had called time on their six-year romance, with Herman filing a lawsuit to nullify a non-disclosure agreement she was reportedly made to sign at the start of their relationship.   

Now, more details have emerged.  

bunkered.co.uk has seen four separate legal filings – two on behalf on Herman and two on behalf of Woods through a trust registered in his name – that shed fresh light on the couple’s break-up… 

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Shared by Heavy.com, the first of Herman’s suits was filed on October 26 last year and names Jupiter Island Irrevocable Homestead Trust – reportedly set up by Woods when he purchased his Florida home in 2006 – as the defendant.

That part is potentially key, as will become clear.

In the suit, Herman alleges that Woods tricked her into moving out of the golfer’s home following the end of their relationship, which reportedly happened last some time autumn.  

Court papers filed by 38-year-old Herman’s lawyers claim that Woods’ agents told “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.” 

This, Herman alleges, is in violation of the Florida Residential Landlord Tenant Act. She claims Woods entered into “oral tenancy agreement” with her when she moved into his home. In exchange for the right to live there for a “certain period of time”, Herman provided “valuable services” for the former world No.1 and his family. 

“No notice or lawful judicial proceeding was commenced to bring the tenancy to a lawful end,” Herman’s attorney wrote. “Instead, the defendant elected to engage in ‘prohibited practices,’ i.e. self-help, causing severe actual, consequential and severe emotional damages to the plaintiff.”

They allege these were done “intentionally, with premeditation and with malice aforethought”. 

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Herman further alleges Woods has “frightened her away” from attempting to return to the home. She says that the golfer’s agents removed her personal belongings from the premises and “misappropriated” more than $40,000 in cash that belonged to her, making “scurrilous and defamatory allegations about how she obtained the money.”

Herman is seeking more than $30million in damages, based on the value of the home and the five years she claims remain on their alleged “tenancy agreement”. 

On November 15, Woods’ trust filed a nine-page motion to dismiss Herman’s case. Lawyers acting on behalf of the 15-time major champ wrote: ““Remarkably, the plaintiff alleges that the value of her remaining five-year tenancy is in excess of $30million.  

“In other words, that in exchange for plaintiff’s services, she was to be provided consideration in excess of $6million per year.” 

This is where things get interesting

The following month, just days after Woods and his son Charlie competed in the PNC Championship, lawyers acting on behalf of the trust filed a 21-motion to compel arbitration. 

They alleged that Herman “positions her Complaint as an action against the Trust because she is required to arbitrate ‘all disputes’ with Mr. Woods in a confidential arbitration before the American Arbitration Association.” 

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They added that, at the outset of their relationship with Woods, the couple entered into a Non-Disclosure And Acknowledgement Agreement, which was reportedly signed on August 9, 2017. 

Woods’ lawyers added: “Among other things, the Agreement requires that ‘any and all disputes, claims or controversies… of any kind or nature whatsoever’ between Ms. Herman and Mr. Woods are to be resolved by confidential binding arbitration before the AAA.”  

They claim that, by suing the Jupiter Island Irrevocable Homestead Trust instead of Woods himself, Herman is looking to “evade her obligation to adjudicate her claims in a confidential arbitration and, instead, seeks to gain leverage by litigating her disputes with Mr. Woods in a public forum.” 

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Which brings us to today’s news.  

On Monday, Herman lodged a fresh suit seeking to nullify that NDA, referred to in court papers as the ‘Woods NDA’.

Lawyers acting on her behalf claim that Herman understands this agreement to be “invalid and unenforceable” but add that “these issues are not legally certain”. 

They state: “Because of the aggressive use of the Woods NDA against her by the Defendant and the trust under his control, the Plaintiff is unsure whether she may disclose, among other things, facts giving rise to various legal claims she believes she has. She is also currently unsure what other information about her own life she may discuss or with whom.” 

Interestingly, the papers conclude by claiming that the NDA is “not judicially enforceable… under the federal Speak Out Act”.

A bipartisan bill which was passed by Congress in 2022 and signed into law by President Biden last December, it prevents such agreements from being enforced where there are accusations of sexual assault or sexual harassment.

Neither Woods nor Herman have so far responded to today’s revelations. 

Woods is expected to make his next tour start at next month’s Masters Tournament, an event he has won five times.  

Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor