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Sheridan Suit Headed to Mediation

Wed., Oct. 10, 2007 7:09 PM PDT by Natalie Finn

Conflict resolution isn't exactly a Desperate Housewives strong suit, but Nicollette Sheridan is going to have to give it a shot.

In an effort to avoid a trial, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Maureen Duffy-Lewis on Wednesday ordered the actress and the former manager who's suing her to try and work their differences out in mediation.

Rob Lee filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit against Sheridan in June 2006, claiming that he helped her land her career-reviving gig on Desperate Housewives and then she gave him the boot in 2004 rather than continue to pay him his 10 percent commission once she started receiving hit-series paychecks.

Sheridan was granted a postponement while she took the case to the California State Labor Commission, stating that Lee was not a licensed talent rep when he arranged meetings and deals on her behalf, and therefore an agreement to cut him in wasn't binding.

In a 21-page decision issued Sept. 4, an officer from the Department of Industrial Relations' Division of Labor Standards Enforcement determined that Lee had violated the state's Talent Agencies Act, which requires an official license to act as an agent, voiding his and Sheridan's financial arrangements.

The lawsuit wasn't thrown out, however, because the Labor Commission attorney also decided that the instance in which Lee hadn't committed a violation was with his role in the Desperate negotiations, the only project he's seeking a return from.

Duffy-Lewis set a tentative June 30 trial date in case mediation doesn’t pan out. Sheridan's attorney, Paul Sorrell, told the judge that he will probably file a motion for dismissal before any trial begins.

Sheridan's "entertainment career was reborn" when she won her Desperate role, Lee alleged in his complaint, adding that he persuaded the former Knots Landing star to audition and kept at her when she initially balked at the idea.

The 43-year-old British-born actress originally tried out for the role of Marcia Cross' conservative control-freak Bree Van de Kamp, but was eventually cast as scheming sexpot Edie Britt who, despite last season's faux suicide attempt, is still going strong in Desperate's fourth season.