The actress Nicollette Sheridan has sued her former employers for breach of contract after, she says, her character was written out of the hit television program "Desperate Housewives" for unfair reasons.

Producers of the show say that Sheridan was let go as a cost-cutting measure, but her lawsuit claims that she was fired in retaliation for an argument she had with the creator and executive producer of the show. She also claimed that during the argument, she was physically assaulted. The judge threw out that claim but allowed other contract law issues in the lawsuit to proceed to trial.

The network and the creator of the show argued in court that the decision to cut Sheridan's character, Edie Britt, from the program had been made long before her subsequent fight with the executive producer. The decision was not widely shared in order to maintain the dramatic surprise.

Sheridan argued in court that the killing off of the character was not a money-saving measure, because it was done in the middle of the season and she was still owed hundreds of thousands of dollars on her contract.

San Diego contract law attorneys noted that Sheridan's lawsuit originally sought damages of $20 million. The judge dismissed some of Sheridan's claims, such as assault and sexual harassment, but wrongful termination and unlawful retaliation claims were allowed to go forward.

Sheridan said after the ruling, "I'm very happy that I'm being treated fairly."

Trial on the matter is scheduled for June 8th.

Source: Seattle Times "Judge clears 'Housewives' firing lawsuit for trial" 5/5/2011