Former 'Desperate Housewives' star Nicollette Sheridan has filed a $20m lawsuit against the show's creator and producer, Marc Cherry.
People magazine reports that the lawsuit filed yesterday in the Los Angeles Superior Court alleges assault and battery, gender violence and wrongful termination [of contract].
The actress, who played Edie Britt in the series before the character was killed off, alleges that Cherry hit her in the face on the set and that she was fired after complaining about his behaviour.
The lawsuit accuses Cherry of creating a hostile work environment on the set and behaving aggressively and abusively toward the cast and the writers.
Sheridan claims in the lawsuit that she tried to meet Cherry in private in the summer of 2008 "in an effort to discuss his negative demeanor toward her and to discuss whether he had a problem with her work".
It is alleged that Cherry denied that this was the case and apologised to the star but continued to behave in a "rude and degrading manner".
The lawsuit alleges that when Sheridan asked Cherry about a line in a script for the show in September 2008 he "took her aside and forcefully hit her with his hand across her face and head" and that he later came to her trailer to "beg forgiveness".
In a statement, the network behind 'Desperate Housewives', ABC Studios, said: "While we have yet to see the actual complaint, we investigated similar claims made by Ms Sheridan last year and found them to be without merit."
