Maureen Decker was Tiger Woods‘ kindergarten teacher from 1981-1982 in Cypress, California. She has hired high-profile lawyer Gloria Allred to set the record straight regarding totally fabricated allegations that suggest she did nothing to prevent or assist her 5-year-old student during a racially motivated attack by older students.
In Charles Barkley’s 2005 book “Who’s Afraid of a Large Black Man”, Tiger Woods provided an interview that appeared in one of the chapters. He said, “A group of sixth-graders tied me to a tree, spray-painted the word ‘nigger’ on me, and threw rocks at me. That was my first day of school. And the teacher really didn’t do much of anything.”
Woods later reiterated the story in an interview with Barbara Walters, and a depiction of the alleged Cerritos Elementary School incident appeared in the movie “The Tiger Woods Story”.
According to 69-year-old Mrs. Decker, the incident never occurred and she has tried unsuccessfully for the past five years to contact Tiger Woods to talk to him about the falsehood. Phone calls and letters have been ignored.
The former kindergarten teacher claims to have suffered migraines, high blood pressure and other physical maladies as a result of the stress that the lies have caused her. Out of desperation, she has hired Gloria Allred to assist her in bringing the truth to light. She claims that she is not interesting in suing Woods but does insist that he put out a retraction statement and apologize to her both publicly and privately.
Allred said, “Ms. Decker remembers Tiger Woods very well because of his cute smile and big glasses. She remembers him as being intense and a perfectionist even at that young age. No teacher should ever be treated in such a callous and unfair manner especially one such as Ms. Decker. The time for Tiger Woods to make direct amends to her is now.”