In Advance of Hearing, Tiger Woods's NDA With Erica Herman Revealed Along With Emails
In a Martin County, Fla., courtroom on Tuesday, Tiger Woods's defense team will get an opportunity to argue that Erica Herman, Woods's former girlfriend must submit to arbitration and that newly passed federal statutes do not apply in this case.
The case between Herman and Woods centers around a Non-Disclosure and Acknowledgement Agreement that was purported to be executed by both Herman and Woods on Aug. 9, 2017.
In that agreement, section 3, titled "Dispute Resolution," provides for binding arbitration in any issues originating from the agreement.
Herman, in a response filed to the court on May 5, claims that she did not recognize the NDA form and does not recall signing it.
In a filing made on Sunday by Woods, a declaration by Christopher J. Hubman, the CFO of ETW Corporation, a company that manages all of Woods's business endeavors, stated he first introduced the NDA draft to Herman on April 17, 2017. After she requested some changes, Hubman sent her a revised copy on July 13, and she delivered a fully executed copy on Aug. 9, 2017.
The filing includes emails between Hubman and Herman discussing the NDA.
On July 13, Hubman sent a e-mail to Herman about the requested revisions:
“As a follow up to our conversation, attached please find a revised NDA which addresses the matters we discussed, i.e., taking pictures of the kids and your employment by TWJ."
On Aug. 7, Herman emailed Hubman about the NDA:
My only concern is if by chance TW does something that brings our relationship to an end, do I automatically loose (sic) my job? I don't have any problems with what's in the document because I wouldn't go public or use anything I know to hurt him or the kids but with my whole life in his hands now I would want to have some kind of control over my future in the business. If something happened 5-10 years down the road I don't want to be in my 40's heartbroken and jobless. Thoughts?
Hubman responded the same day:
In my mind, your employment by The Woods Jupiter and your personal relationship with TW are two separate items. I don't think the end of one automatically impacts the other ... although I admit it could be complicated. It will most likely depend on the terms, condition or reason for the relationship ending.
The NDA doesn't address the terms of your TWJ employment...only the dissemination and control of information that you become privy to as a result of your personal and professional relationship with TW.
At the time of the purported execution, Herman was an employee of The Woods Jupiter, a restaurant owned by Woods in Jupiter, Fla. She would stop working at the establishment on Feb. 17, 2020, at the insistence of Woods according to court documents.
Herman moved in with Woods around the end of 2016 and lived in his house in Jupiter until October 2022, when Woods broke off the relationship. Herman filed her original complaint against Woods for Declaratory Judgment on March 6, 2023, and included a demand for a jury trial and suggested that she experienced either sexual harassment or sexual assault, therefore using the newly enacted Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 to nullify the arbitration clause and to nullify the NDA under federal Speak Out Act.
In the defendant’s reply in support of Motion to Compel Arbitration filed on Sunday, Woods's attorneys claim that the hearing is more procedural than evidentiary, and that Woods is not required to establish a prima facie case for relief with admissible evidence. Woods's legal team also argues that the NDA was executed properly, and that Herman agreed to arbitrate disputes with Woods.
Lastly, Woods argues that the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act will not apply in this case and therefore the arbitration clause is valid, using one of the few cases adjudicated under the new law as support, Yost v. Everyrealm, Inc.
In the most recent court filing by Herman, it was claimed that if she signed the NDA it was because Woods, as her boss, imposed an NDA upon her to keep her job when she was having a sexual relationship with him.
On Tuesday, Woods's side hopes to get the arbitration issue in the rearview mirror after the claims by Herman. At the same time, Herman hopes the court will see the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act as a federal statute that applies in her case, invalidating the arbitration clause.