Tiger Woods' Involvement With a Former Employee Is Being Called a 'Cautionary Tale' in the Wake of His $30M Sexual Harassment Lawsuit

Tiger Woods’ latest battle isn’t happening out on the golf course, it’s occurring in the courtroom. The athlete’s former girlfriend and restaurant employee, Erica Herman, is suing him for sexual harassment in a $30 million legal case.

The duo met when she was an employee at his Florida restaurant, The Woods Jupiter, and began dating in 2017. Herman is accusing her ex of pursing a romantic and sexual relationship with her while she was his employee and forcing her to sign a non-disclosure agreement, according to court documents obtained by ABC News. “This case is yet another cautionary tale about that boundary between a professional relationship and a romantic or sexual relationship, consensual or not,” Attorney Indira J. Cameron-Banks told Good Morning America. “There have been laws passed recently that would this types of clauses and agreements are not enforceable.”

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Besides the questionable start to their dating situation, the six-year relationship ended on a nasty note in 2022. “And, when he became disgruntled with their sexual relationship, he tricked her into leaving her home, locked her out, took her cash, pets, and personal possessions, and tried to strong-arm her into signing a different NDA,” the court filing reads. She thought she was going on a romantic vacation with Woods, when in reality, she was met at the airport by the PGA golfer’s attorney.

“Then, Mr. Woods’s California lawyer, out of the blue, told her that she was not going anywhere, would never see Mr. Woods again, had been locked out of the house, and could not return,” the document continued. “She would not even be able to see the children or her pets again.” Woods’ legal team called Herman “a jilted ex-girlfriend who wants to publicly litigate specious claims in court.” The athlete doesn’t want to air out his dirty laundry in public and has asked for a “confidential arbitration proceeding.” This situation is likely to get uglier if they don’t agree on a settlement soon and the judge proceeds with the case — there might be a few things Woods doesn’t want the world to know.

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