Brian Damage
09-08-2010, 09:02 AM
A couple minor moves today in Nicollette Sheridan's $20 million lawsuit against ABC and "Desperate Housewives" creator Marc Cherry over being fired from the show.
Lawyers for Sheridan and ABC were in court this morning, where Judge Elizabeth Allen White denied the network's attempt to knock out a claim based on deficiencies in the complaint. Sheridan sued ABC and Cherry for assault and discrimination back in April claiming she was fired after she complained about Cherry striking her on the set.
ABC, which is vigorously defending the suit and was repped at the hearing today by employment litigator Adam Levin, argued that one of the causes of action was uncertain because it combined three distinct claims (discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation and age).
The judge shot down that argument but took a slap (no pun intended) at the wording of Sheridan's lawsuit, filed by Mark Baute and Patrick Maloney. "Although annoying, inconvenient and inconsiderate, the failure to separate the three distinct wrongs does not result in an inability to understand what is alleged," the judge writes in a tentative order.
The judge also denied ABC's attempt to strike some language relating to the alleged harassment from the complaint. The case will now continue into the discovery phase.
Also at the hearing, Levin told the judge that the two sides had not agreed to take the case to mediation. That means this dispute could unfold in public. We're expecting courtroom theatrics worthy of a "Desperate Housewives" episode.
http://thresq.hollywoodreporter.com/2010/09/nicolette-sheridan-lawsuit-update.html
Lawyers for Sheridan and ABC were in court this morning, where Judge Elizabeth Allen White denied the network's attempt to knock out a claim based on deficiencies in the complaint. Sheridan sued ABC and Cherry for assault and discrimination back in April claiming she was fired after she complained about Cherry striking her on the set.
ABC, which is vigorously defending the suit and was repped at the hearing today by employment litigator Adam Levin, argued that one of the causes of action was uncertain because it combined three distinct claims (discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation and age).
The judge shot down that argument but took a slap (no pun intended) at the wording of Sheridan's lawsuit, filed by Mark Baute and Patrick Maloney. "Although annoying, inconvenient and inconsiderate, the failure to separate the three distinct wrongs does not result in an inability to understand what is alleged," the judge writes in a tentative order.
The judge also denied ABC's attempt to strike some language relating to the alleged harassment from the complaint. The case will now continue into the discovery phase.
Also at the hearing, Levin told the judge that the two sides had not agreed to take the case to mediation. That means this dispute could unfold in public. We're expecting courtroom theatrics worthy of a "Desperate Housewives" episode.
http://thresq.hollywoodreporter.com/2010/09/nicolette-sheridan-lawsuit-update.html