TERRY SPENCER
Associated Press
A Florida judge ruled late Wednesday that the ex-girlfriend of Tiger Woods must abide by a nondisclosure agreement she purportedly signed and resolve her lawsuits seeking millions from the golf superstar through private arbitration behind closed doors.
Circuit Judge Elizabeth Metzger, in an 11-page opinion, rejected Erica Herman’s attempt to quash the 2017 agreement by saying Woods had committed sexual harassment against her, calling Herman’s 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.
Metzger also said that the evidence shows that a nondisclosure agreement was negotiated between Herman and Woods in 2017, even if her attorney, Benjamin Hodas, now questions whether she actually signed it.
At a May 9 hearing, Hodas conceded that Herman signed an agreement, but he said she doesn’t remember ever seeing the one Woods’ attorneys presented to the court.
