Attorneys for Tiger Woods’ former girlfriend have requested a South Florida court to reconsider a ruling that required the two sides to settle a residential dispute in confidential arbitration.
Last month, a Martin Country (Fla.) judge upheld a non-disclosure and acknowledgement agreement between Woods and Erica Herman. But in a filing Wednesday, Herman asked the court to reconsider four issues, including a lack of admissible evidence.
The filing also argued that “the U.S. Supreme Court has consistently held that a party cannot be forced to arbitrate without a finding that she agreed to do so, which means that in this case – with no evidence in the record – arbitration should not be compelled, or, at a minimum, an evidentiary hearing should be held.”
Herman’s attorneys also argued that she never conceded “the existence of an agreement to arbitrate,” but in Judge Elizabeth Metzger’s 11-page ruling last month she held that Herman’s claims of authenticity of the NDA were not enough to force an evidentiary hearing.
Wednesday’s motion claimed Woods’ attorneys were conducting a “trial by ambush” and that the disputed copy of the NDA was not “authenticated” by what they claimed were “hearsay” declarations.
Herman sued Woods and the trust that owns his South Florida mansion for $30 million, the amount of rent she said she would have to pay for a similar piece of beachfront property for six years.