Woods’ ex-girlfriend asks judge to dissolve confidentiality dispute

The civil lawsuit filed Monday in Circuit Court for the 19th Judicial Circuit in Martin County, Florida, is the latest in a months-long dispute between Erica Herman and Tiger Woods.

UNITED STATES — The ex-girlfriend of Tiger Woods is asking a judge to remove her from a confidentiality agreement that she says the 15-time Major champion forced her to sign when they began their relationship in August 2017, according to court records obtained by ESPN.

The civil lawsuit filed Monday in Circuit Court for the 19th Judicial Circuit in Martin County, Florida, is the latest in a months-long dispute between Erica Herman y Woods.

Herman believes that the confidentiality agreement is “invalid and unenforceable” and that a trust controlled by Woods is being misused against you. Herman’s attorney is citing a federal law, the Ley Speak Outwhich prevents the application of confidentiality agreements in cases of sexual assault and harassment.

In a civil cover letter sent to the court, the attorney for Herman, Benjamin Hodasindicated that the case involved allegations of sexual abuse, although those allegations might not involve Woods directly.

Herman he did not make any specific accusations against Woods.

Hodas did not immediately respond to an interview request from ESPN on Wednesday. Woods’ agent, Mark Steinberg, also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Monday’s complaint is the second legal filing Herman has filed in the last five months with Woods.

According to documents obtained by ABC News, Herman sued the Jupiter Island Irrevocable Homestead Trust, which technically owns Woods’ Florida home, in October. She alleges that she was tricked into taking a short vacation and that when she arrived at the airport, the airport agents Woods “She was told that she had been locked out of her residence” and that she would not be allowed to return.

She says she had an “oral lease” to live in the home for what the lawsuit calls “a certain period of time” and believes the damages, based on the residence’s monthly rental value, would exceed $30 million. Dollars.

The legal team of Woods filed a motion to dismiss the complaint in November, saying Herman’s claims were invalid because she was not a “tenant” of the residence under the “Residential Landlord and Tenant Act.”

Woods, 47, will skip The Players this week at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, after he returned from a layoff of more than seven months when he made his 2023 debut at the Genesis at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles. Herman, 38, was not seen with him at the tournament.

The lawyer of Herman alleged that Woods is trying to use the confidentiality clause to force Herman to keep details of their relationship private. If the judge decides the clause is enforceable, Herman’s attorney asked the judge to specify how it limits his ability to disclose, among other things, “his own experiences,” “experiences of family members,” “photographs and recordings of her and her family members”, “information from sources other than Respondent” and “information responsive to statements Respondent has made or published about herself or others to prove the falsehood or misleading nature of those statements.”