Tiger Woods's "Privacy" Violated?

NOVEMBER 3--When you plunk down $20 million for a 155-foot yacht and name it "Privacy," well, you expect a little discretion from the guy who sold you the vessel.

So you can imagine why Tiger Woods is pissed at Christensen Shipyards for allegedly breaching a confidentiality agreement and crowing about the golfer's purchase of the swanky megayacht from the Vancouver firm.

In a federal lawsuit filed in Miami--a copy of which you'll find here--Woods claims that Christensen has been distributing photos of "Privacy" to yachting magazines and, during a recent Fort Lauderdale boat show, used his name to promote the firm.

Click here for a photographic peek into Tiger's nautical lair.

Along with his complaint, Woods filed an excerpt from a February 2004 sales contract that forbids Christensen from disclosing that the 28-year-old athlete purchased the yacht. The firm was also prohibited from even revealing the yacht's name.

According to Woods's wife, model Elin Nordegren, her family's privacy has been invaded by Christensen's unwarranted publicity grab. As Nordegren notes in a sworn declaration, the yacht had been "intended to be a private respite for our family to relax and escape the rigors of my husband's celebrity."

Based on his "established value as an endorser and promoter of products," Woods estimates that compensatory damages in the matter could exceed $50 million. (14 pages)