Let's just clear up one thing straight off: Nicollette Sheridan ain't desperate.
At least not yet.
A Los Angeles judge today ruled that the actress' wrongful-termination lawsuit against Desperate Housewives mastermind Marc Cherry can proceed—despite his attempts to get the case tossed.
Sheridan, 46, sued her former boss for $20 million last April, asserting that he acted "abusive and appalling" and even assaulted the actress on the set. She claimed that he had her written off the hit series when she differed on a script with him and reported the alleged mistreatment to ABC execs.
A month later she seemed to back off one of her most damning claims, filing an amendment saying that the altercation didn't so much entail a forceful blow, but instead "a light tap on the side of the head."
Today, Cherry's attorney fired back, portraying Sheridan's allegations as lacking clarity and essentially an attempt to lob unsubstantiated accusations against his client in the hope that something sticks.
"We really don't know what the plaintiff was alleging, there's a merge of claims," said defense counsel Adam Levin, pointing out that a harassment claim had been dropped.
While L.A. Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Allen White agreed that the complaint is "not a model of clarity," that didn't stop her from denying Levin's petition asknig Sheridan to clarify the discrimination portion of her suit, and the judge gave the suit the greenlight to move forward.
The decision more than pleased Sheridan's camp.
"A procedural motion that didn't have any basis was brought and properly denied and the case will move forward," the attorney for the erstwhile Edie Britt told E! News after the hearing.
The next court date in the case is scheduled for Sept. 13.
—Reporting by Soo Youn and Claudia Rosenbaum
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Want more on this nasty Housewives spat? Ted Casablanca has juicy Desperate scoop you can't find anywhere else in The Awful Truth.