Tiger Woods’ former mistress warned that the golf star’s latest ex-girlfriend, Erica Herman, is “up against a machine now”
after it was revealed she is embroiled in a nasty legal spat to get out of her non-disclosure agreement.
Rachel Uchitel, who signed her own an NDA with Woods just days after their affair was revealed in 2009,
said the legally binding agreement ruined her life because she was unable to publicly defend herself against attacks.
Based on her years of fighting with Woods’ legal team, Uchitel told The Post Thursday that Herman should be bracing herself for a rough road ahead, alleging: “A tiger does not change its stripes.”
“She’s up against a machine, she’s up against Goliath,” the 48-year-old said.
“I’ve been through this. I spent many years fighting this, but who knows if she’s in the right or the wrong. But it doesn’t matter – I’m not here to judge her or the circumstances.”
The nightclub manager-turned-TV personality, who was among several women Woods had affairs with during his six-year marriage to Elin Nordegren, says she signed the $8 million NDA to cover up the golfer’s “bad behavior.”
In the years that followed, Uchitel said she ended up going bankrupt because Woods’ lawyers repeatedly went after her for speaking about the affair and violating the terms of her NDA.
While Uchitel said the news of Herman’s legal fight with Woods “sounds familiar,” she insists their situations are starkly different.
“I fought this on my own for over a decade but my circumstances were different,” Uchitel told Us Weekly.
“There is a big difference between [an NDA] signed at the commencement of a relationship for parties to agree [to] not share confidential information, and then the signing of an NDA to cover up bad behavior. The latter can ruin your life.”
Herman has been battling Woods in court since October after she sued the golf champ’s trust for allegedly using “trickery” to evict her from his Jupiter, Fla., mansion after their breakup.
She alleges, in court papers obtained by The Post, that she was convinced to “pack a suitcase for a short vacation and, when she arrived at the airport, they told her she had been locked out of her residence, in violation of the oral tenancy agreement and in violation of Florida law.”
In response, Woods’ legal team argued that Herman needed to resolve “any and all disputes, claims or controversies” via arbitration — and outside the court — given the terms of an NDA she signed in August 2017 when the pair started dating.
Then, on Monday, Herman filed fresh court papers seeking to nullify the NDA — citing the Speak Out Act, which allows such agreements to be voided if there’s proof of sexual assault or harassment.
Herman checked “yes” under a question asking if the case involved “allegations of sexual abuse.” There are no specific allegations of assault or harassment referenced in the filings, the court documents show.
According to the complaint, she is seeking clarification on what she is legally allowed to disclose publicly about her nearly six-year relationship with the golfing champ.
“Arbitration is where NDAs go to get buried, essentially,” Uchitel told Us Weekly of the current legal battle between Herman and Woods.
“It’s all very quiet and tidy in an arbitration. And no one gets to hear about it ever again.”
Uchitel also offered words of comfort for Woods’ ex, telling The Post: “If she wants to talk privately about this scenario, my door is always open … because I know that publicly, it’s really, really hard to deal with this.”
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Source: USA Today
