Current:Home > Contact-usTiger Woods' ex-girlfriend Erica Herman drops lawsuit, denies making sexual harassment allegations-LoTradeCoin
Tiger Woods' ex-girlfriend Erica Herman drops lawsuit, denies making sexual harassment allegations
View Date:2024-12-23 20:04:37
Tiger Woods' ex-girlfriend has dropped her lawsuits against the golf superstar and the trust that owns his Florida mansion, saying she never accused him of sexual harassment even though her attorney has made that claim.
The attorney for Erica Herman filed a one-paragraph notice in state court last week saying she was voluntarily dismissing her $30 million lawsuit against the trust "with prejudice," meaning the claim cannot be reasserted later. She had claimed that Woods promised she could live at the 30,000-square-foot beachfront mansion until 2026 but kicked her out unexpectedly last year.
"In dismissing this action, Erica Herman states that she was never a victim of sexual harassment or sexual abuse at the hands of Tiger Woods or any of his agents and it is her position that she has never asserted such a claim," wrote attorney Benjamin Hodas, who claimed on multiple occasions that Woods had sexually harassed his client.
A separate lawsuit against Woods was rejected by a judge in May, and court records show an appeal of that decision was dropped this week. Nothing in court documents indicates a settlement was reached on either lawsuit, though that could have been done privately.
Hodas did not return a call and email seeking comment Thursday. Woods' attorney, J.B. Murray, declined to comment.
Herman was Woods' girlfriend from 2015 until October 2022, moving into his $54 million mansion north of Palm Beach in 2016. She managed his Palm Beach County restaurant before and during the first years of their romantic relationship, and she signed a nondisclosure agreement in 2017 that barred her from discussing their relationship publicly. It also required her to take any legal disagreements with Woods to private arbitration and not court.
Hodas claimed in a May court hearing that Herman didn't remember signing the document but that if she did it was under duress, having been told she would be fired from the restaurant if she didn't.
Hodas argued the nondisclosure agreement was unenforceable under a new federal law that says such contracts can be voided when sexual abuse or sexual harassment occurred. He contended that Woods' alleged threat to fire her was harassment.
"A boss imposing different work conditions on his employee because of their sexual relationship is sexual harassment," Hodas wrote in a May filing.
Circuit Judge Elizabeth Metzger rejected Herman's attempt to quash the nondisclosure agreement later in May, calling her allegations "vague and threadbare."
"Herman has had the opportunity (to) provide factual specificity for any claim relating to sexual assault or sexual harassment, however, she has not done so," Metzger wrote.
Forbes Magazine estimates Woods' net worth at $1.1 billion. In 2017, Woods had put the mansion into the Jupiter Island Irrevocable Homestead Trust, an entity he created that has only himself and his two children as beneficiaries.
- In:
- Sexual Harassment
- Lawsuit
- Sports
- Sexual Abuse
- Florida
- Tiger Woods
veryGood! (9563)
Related
- Trump pledged to roll back protections for transgender students. They’re flooding crisis hotlines
- Wisconsin committee sets up Republican-authored PFAS bill for Senate vote
- Family Dollar issues huge recall for over-the-counter drugs, medical devices in 23 states
- Shop the Best Amazon October Prime Day Fashion Deals 2023 to Upgrade Your Fall Wardrobe
- Democrat Cleo Fields wins re-drawn Louisiana congressional district, flipping red seat blue
- George Santos denies new federal charges, including credit card fraud, aggravated identity theft
- Memorial honors 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire deaths that galvanized US labor movement
- 2 senior generals purged from Myanmar’s military government are sentenced to life for corruption
- Tuskegee University closes its campus to the public, fires security chief after shooting
- Rare birdwing butterflies star in federal case against NY man accused of trafficking insects
Ranking
- Celtics' Jaylen Brown calls Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo a 'child' over fake handshake
- ‘Turtleboy’ blogger accused of witness intimidation is due in court in Massachusetts
- Democratic challenger raises more campaign cash than GOP incumbent in Mississippi governor’s race
- Who is Mary Lou Retton? Everything to know about the American gymnastics icon
- Stop What You're Doing—Moo Deng Just Dropped Her First Single
- NASA shows off its first asteroid samples delivered by a spacecraft
- Donald Trump will speak in Florida next to Matt Gaetz, who set House speaker’s ouster in motion
- Immense sadness: Sacramento Jewish, Palestinian community members process conflict in Middle East
Recommendation
-
NFL coaches diversity report 2024: Gains at head coach, setbacks at offensive coordinator
-
Scientists winkle a secret from the `Mona Lisa’ about how Leonardo painted the masterpiece
-
Pray or move? Survey shows Americans who think their homes are haunted and took action
-
3 witchy books for fall that offer fright and delight
-
Black and Latino families displaced from Palm Springs neighborhood reach $27M tentative settlement
-
Atlanta's police chief fires officer involved in church deacon Johnny Hollman Sr.'s death
-
King Charles III to travel to Kenya for state visit full of symbolism
-
2 Guatemalan migrants were shot dead in Mexico near US border. Soldiers believed to be involved