Nicollette Sheridan will have her day in court—again.
A judge who previously had denied the actress' bid for a new trial in her wrongful-termination complaint against ABC Entertainment today reversed his decision, meaning Sheridan can again move forward with her allegations that she was fired from Desperate Housewives for a bogus reason.
When she first sued ABC, Touchstone and series creator Marc Cherry (who was excused from the suit mid-trial the first time around), she alleged that her character, Edie Britt, been killed off of the series after she complained to higher-ups at the network that Cherry had knocked her on the head with his hand during an argument about a scene back in 2008. (He admitted during testimony to "tapping" her head with no other intention than to demonstrate the comedic vibe he wanted for the scene.)
The jury dead-locked, 8-4, and L.A. Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Allen White declared a mistrial in March 2012.
Per NBC News, the lower court refused to rehear the case, and then the California Supreme Court rejected her appeal, determining that the trial judge should have issued a directed verdict in favor of ABC because Sheridan wasn't fired per se; rather, her contract was not renewed.
The appellate court did advise, Sheridan, however to refile citing a violation of the California Labor Code.
So she did, but L.A. Superior Court Judge Michael Stern rejected the petition, stating that she should have filed within six months of the incident.
Stern also rejected the argument that Sheridan shouldn't have had to exhaust administrative options before filing her lawsuit, but then he abruptly about-faced today without explanation.
Touchstone attorney Adam Levin told The Hollywood Reporter that they would appeal Stern's ruling to try to stop this new trial in its tracks.
A status hearing is scheduled for April.