Tiger Woods Accused of Sexual Harassment by Ex-Girlfriend Erica, "He Forced me to make a Sexual Relationship, Erica said"

According to a document filed by her attorney on Friday in a Florida state court, Tiger Woods' ex-girlfriend has accused him of sexual harassment.

She claims that while she was working for him, he pursued a sexual relationship with her and then forced her to sign a non-disclosure agreement about it, threatening to fire her if she didn't.

“Mr. Woods was Ms. Herman’s boss," said the attorney for Erica Herman.

"On Mr. Woods’s own portrayal of events, he imposed an NDA on her as a condition to keep her job when she began having a sexual relationship with him. A boss imposing different work conditions on his employee because of their sexual relationship is sexual harassment."

The lawsuit is a result of their disagreement, which developed after they split up in October.

Herman started their romance while both were working at Woods' restaurant, The Woods, in Jupiter, Florida.

Not against the well-known golfer himself, but rather against the trust Woods set up for his Florida home in 2017, she filed a complaint in October.

Herman claimed that she had an oral lease agreement to occupy the home for approximately five more years in that open court case. She claimed she was shut out of the house in breach of the contract, and she sought more than $30 million in damages.

After that, the conflict became more convoluted, which is what prompted her lawyer, Benjamin Hodas, to file the court document on Friday.

– according to the attorney for Erica Herman –

Woods forced her to sign an NDA about it or else be fired from her job,” said the document filed by her attorney. “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.”

What is Tiger Woods' response?

Woods’ attorney, J.B. Murray, didn't immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Tiger Woods stated in previous court documents that,

Herman is a "not a victim of sexual assault or abuse sought to be protected by Congress when enacting the statute.”

He denied Herman had an oral tenancy agreement and described her as a “jilted ex-girlfriend” who was making specious claims. He also described Herman’s public court filings as a way to put pressure on Woods, who famously guards his privacy and once was ensnared in a sex scandal.

“Ms. Herman argues that she cannot be required to arbitrate her claims because a new federal statute … provides that a party to an arbitration agreement cannot be required to arbitrate a 'sexual assault dispute’ or a 'sexual harassment dispute,'" Woods' attorney wrote in a recent filing. “Ms. Herman’s position is utterly meritless."

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