Nicollette Sheridan's Desperate Housewives Suit Headed for Trial

It's going to be a Desperate showdown come June as a former series star faces off with the boss who fired her

By Josh Grossberg, Claudia Rosenbaum May 03, 2011 8:30 PMTags
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UPDATE: On Aug. 29, 2011, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Allen White ruled that Sheridan can only seek damages commensurate with one year's salary from the show, rather than seek damages from the entire span of the series' eight-season run.

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The last stop on Wisteria Lane for Nicollette Sheridan is turning out to be a courthouse.

A Los Angeles Judge has given the go-ahead for the ex-star's $20 million lawsuit against Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry to proceed to trial.

"It is clear to the court that this is something that needs to go to a jury," Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Allen announced at a hearing today.

Sheridan, who had not appeared at any of the other proceedings in the case, did turn up for today's session.

"I'm very happy that I am being treated fairly," she told reporters outside the courtroom.

The actress, whose character on the hit ABC series met a (literally) shocking end, filed her complaint against Cherry a year ago, originally claiming that the überproducer wrongly fired her after she reported to network bosses an incident in which Cherry assaulted her in 2008.

However, last June (after her former costars pledged to support Cherry's version of events), the actress backed off the abuse claims, filing an amended suit instead alleging that the altercation with the show mastermind didn't involve a whack but rather "a light tap on the side of the head."

ABC investigated her allegations, including her assertion that Cherry "took her aside and forcefully hit her with his hand across her face and head," but determined they were "of no merit.

Now it's up to a jury to sort it all out.

The trial is set to kick off on June 8.