Update!

Real Housewives of Orange County's Gretchen Rossi Awarded Over $500,000 in Lawsuit

After over two years of legal woes, the reality star finally gets her payoff from Jay Photoglou

By Bruna Nessif Nov 19, 2012 10:45 PMTags
Gretchen RossiDavid Goldman/Bravo

It's definitely a good week for Gretchen Rossi

The Orange County Superior Court confirms to E! News that on Thursday a jury awarded the Real Housewives of Orange County star $500,000 in damages, $23,250 in punitive damages and a three-year-restraining order in her ongoing legal battle against Jay Photoglou

Rossi and Photoglou have been going back-and-forth with lawsuits since 2010, when the Bravo reality star sued the man who claimed to be her former beau for defamation, assault, battery and other alleged offenses.

The judge threw out the defamation-libel-slander portion of Rossi's case in October 2010, but allowed her to move forward with claims of assault, battery, stalking, breach of contract, conversion, intentional emotional distress, intentional interference with contractual relations and intentional interference with prospective economic relations. Gretchen ended up having to pay Photoglou $40,799 in legal fees, but it seems as though she still got the upper hand in the end.

Meanwhile, Photoglou also slapped Rossi with a suit in January 2011 for libel and slander, claiming she lied about their secret relationship on TV and in various media interviews when she was engaged to Jeff Beitzel, who died of leukemia in September 2008.

The court rep also tells E! News that Gretchen is seeking a temporary restraining order against Photoglou now that she has won. A hearing over that matter was held Monday at 10 a.m.

At Monday's hearing, Orange County Superior Court Judge David Chaffee issued a three-year restraining order against Photoglou that prohibits him from coming within 100 feet of Rossi or contacting any of Rossi's businesses with which she's contracting or negotiating.

"Now, with the restraining order in place, Ms. Rossi can live with peace of mind. Hopefully everyone can now move on with their lives," Rossi's attorney said in a statement.

(E! and Bravo are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)

—Reporting by Baker Machado

(Originally published Nov. 15, 2012, at 6:54 p.m. PT)