Here I am minding my own business scrolling through social media this morning and I see this headline…
‘Tiger Woods, girlfriend named in wrongful-death lawsuit involving Woods Jupiter employee’
Of course, knowing nothing more because I had yet to click the link to read up on it, my face just went through what must have looked like me trying to recreated any emoji that reflects bewilderment or astonishment.
Turns out that Woods, and girlfriend Erica Herman, had the suit filed against them following the death of a bartender that worked at their restaurant in Jupiter, Florida. On December 10th, 2018, bartender Nicholas Immesberger crashed his car driving well over the speed limit about 20 miles from the restaurant where he worked. The police report indicated that his blood alcohol level was three times above the legal limit at the time of the accident. (One thing I haven’t been able to find was whether or not he was on his way from work, just hanging out, etc which I feel like could be an important missing detail if it doesn’t exist.)
Apparently/allegedly, people were aware that Immesberger was a recovering addict and this could play a role in the whole lawsuit. Golf Digest reported below:
The suit alleges The Woods’ employees knew Immesberger was a recovering addict who was attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. A month before his death, Immesberger had another alcohol-related crash. “Despite this, the employees and management at The Woods continued to serve Immesberger alcohol while he was working as well as after work, while he sat at the bar,” the suit reads. It also claims Woods and Herman drank with Immesberger nights before the crash. The suit does not specify whether Woods or Herman were at the restaurant the day of the accident.
Woods is the owner of the restaurant, while Herman is the general manager. Under state alcohol laws, Woods could potentially be held liable as the proprietor of the establishment even if he wasn’t at the venue the day of the crash.
I’m no legal expert so I can’t really make any predictions or assumptions of how this will play out, but I’ll be interested to see what happens next. With Tiger scheduled to speak to the media today for the PGA Championship, I can only imagine he’ll hear a few questions on this one.
Our condolences go out to the family and friends affected by this young man’s death. If you’re looking for resources for help or to help someone else with addiction, this link has lists of multiple national resources to get help.
