Blonde bombshell and Desperate Housewife Nicolette Sheridan has dropped a huge bomb of her own. The actress has recently filed a lawsuit against the creator of the show, Marc Cherry and is suing him for assault and battery, gender violence as well as wrongful termination.

Sheridan alleged that Cherry was abusive towards the people working on the show and created a hostile working environment. She claimed that on September 24, 2008, she was physically assaulted by Cherry when she asked him something about the script.

The lawsuit described the attack as Sheridan getting hit by Cherry with his hand across her face and head. Although Cherry allegedly went to Sheridan after to ask for forgiveness, the actress reported the incident to ABC but no action was taken and the abuse only continued.

Teri Hatcher also allegedly complained about him and Cherry also said bad things about the actress. Aside from the physical assault charges, Sheridan claims that her character in the show was killed off unfairly hence her wrongful termination charges.

Sheridan is asking for damages worth more than $29 million.

While physical assault and gender violence is easier to identify, wrongful termination on the other hand, can be misunderstood by a lot of people. It is important to remember that while termination can be unfair but it doesn’t necessarily mean it is unlawful.

Often people would automatically label getting fired unfairly as wrongful termination but that is not always the case. Losing your job will always seem unfair but there are certain legal grounds that should be complied with before it is qualified as wrongful termination.

Under the law, the following are the grounds which would constitute wrongful termination:

• Terminating employee on the basis of discrimination such as nationality, religion, age, disability, gender and other protected characteristic

• Termination of employment as a form of sexual harassment

• Breach of oral and written employment agreements

• Firing an employee in retaliation for the employee’s having filed a complaint or claim against the employer, or participated in an investigation

In case they said grounds are present and wrongful termination is later on proven by the complainant, the fired employee may be awarded damages including lost wages and punitive wages. Also, the employee may also request to be reinstated to her former position.

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A wrongful termination case filed by a former aide against the co-founder of Broadcom Corporation billionaire Henry T. Nicholas III was recently dismissed by the Orange County Superior Court jury.

The suit, which was filed last February 2009, alleged the Katherine Nichols was fired from her job after she testified in a federal investigation involving Nicholas. She previously worked at The Management Co., which is partially owned by Nicholas from
June 2007 to June 2008. Subsequently, the charges against Nicholas for federal securities fraud and drug distribution were dropped.

The jury however, in a vote of nine to three, decided against Nichols’ wrongful termination claim. Neither will the ex-aide receive any damages for her lawsuit as the termination of her employment appeared not to be based on her involvement and testimony in the federal investigation but on her failure to show up for work for at least two months.

Oftentimes, when an employee is fired from his job, the employee would often feel that it’s unfair or that his rights have been abused. While bitterness is a natural reaction to termination, there are certain instances when an employee can be considered to be illegally dismissed.

An employee can rightfully file a wrongful termination claim against his employer if he was fired because of discrimination based on his/her sex, race, color, religion, and disability; in violation or breach of his employment contract; or in violation of public policy (i.e. availing of FMLA benefits).

While most employers would anchor their defenses on “at-will employment” thus terminating an employee can be done at will and for any reason, the above-mentioned reasons are illegal and would constitute wrongful termination.

Also, aside from discrimination, breach of contract, and violation of public policy, an employee can also be considered illegally dismissed if he/she was fired because of retaliation, in contravention of implied contract and breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealings.

But just like Nichols’ case, wrongful termination can be difficult to prove and oftentimes, it’s the employee’s word against the employer. Thus, it is very important to hire an expert employment attorney to assess your claim and handle your case. They would be able to determine, through documents and interviews in preparing your case, whether or not your claim would prosper. Otherwise, if there was too little groundwork later on in a trial, your whole case can collapse because of any evidence that might defeat your claim.

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