Nicollette Sheridan case against Housewives producers to proceed

A lawsuit filed by former Desperate Housewives star Nicollette Sheridan against ABC and creator Marc Cherry will go to court, after a judge ruled in her favour.

Judge Elizabeth Allen White of Los Angeles County Superior Court dismissed Sheridan’s claims of assault and sexual harassment, but said that she could seek damages for wrongful termination and unlawful retaliation.

“It’s clear to the court that this is something that needs to go to a jury,” the judge said.

A lawyer for ABC and Cherry argued that the decision to kill ‘Edie’ was made months before the death occurred on the series. But a lawyer for Sheridan said that producers could not justify her dismissal as a cost-cutting measure because it had occurred in midseason and she was still owed hundreds of thousands of dollars on her contract.

Sheridan had initially filed a $20-million wrongful termination lawsuit against Cherry in April 2010, alleging he booted her from the ABC series after she complained to network execs that he’d hit her.

The case will begin on June 8th.

Source: New York Times, LA Times