Tiger Woods' kindergarten teacher held a news conference with attorney Gloria Allred Friday, saying he lied about suffering racial abuse at school. Now, years later, she is fighting back.
Another woman says she was hurt by Tiger Woods: his kindergarten teacher. She is very upset that Woods claims he was traumatized by a racial incident nearly 30 years ago and that his teacher did nothing about it. She believes Woods made it all up.
"I want a public apology and a private apology," said retired teacher Maureen Decker. Asked if she wanted any money, she said no.
Decker says her life was devoted to teaching, and Woods' statements have devastated her.
"It started to affect me in a physical manner. I dealt with migraine headaches, elevated blood pressure and colitis attacks," said Decker.
Tiger Woods says on his first day of school at Cerritos Elementary School in Anaheim he was the victim of a racial attack.
Woods is quoted in "Who's Afraid of a Large Black Man?", written by Charles Barkley, as saying, "A group of sixth-graders tied me to a tree, spray-painted the 'N' word on me and threw rocks at me. That was my first day of school, and the teacher really didn't do much of anything.'"
"All I now is I'm telling the truth, and whether it was five years ago or now, I'm telling the truth. It never happened," said Decker.
Decker is being represented by Gloria Allred, who showed a clip from a movie called "The Tiger Woods Story" that depicted the alleged incident.
"Neither Tiger nor his parents nor anyone ever reported the alleged racial incident to her or the administration. Therefore Ms. Decker contends that the incident and the statement, 'That the teacher really didn't do much of anything about it,' is completely untrue," said Allred.
Decker says the kindergarten class was separate from the rest of the school, and is gated and fenced in.
"There was no way any group of children could have entered the kindergarten area without my knowledge," said Decker.
"Now is the time for the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth," said Allred.
Woods will hold a news conference next week when he plays at the 2010 Masters Golf Tournament. Allred hopes he talks about this.
Eyewitness News tried contacting a Woods spokesperson Friday but no one responded.
