And we thought the case of the Wisteria Lane Strangler was interesting...

In court documents filed this week, former Desperate Housewives star Nicollette Sheridan has sued Marc Cherry for assault, gender violence and wrongful termination. She's seeking over $20 million in damages.

The lawsuit reads:

“On September 24, 2008, during a rehearsal for the show, when Sheridan questioned Cherry about something that was in the script, Cherry took her aside and forcefully hit her with his hand across her face and head. [Sheridan was] physically and emotionally injured, humiliated and stunned by Cherry’s sudden physical violence and stated, ‘you just hit me in the head, that is not okay. THAT IS NOT OKAY!'"

Allegedly, ABC was made aware of the incident, but did not take any action against the show's creator.

Aside from the claim of assault against her, Sheridan - whose character, Edie, was killed off Desperate Housewives in 2009 - also says Cherry said the following to her, after news spread that Teri Hatcher complained about the series behind his back:

"I hope Teri Hatcher gets hit by a car and dies."

These are merely allegations at this point, it's important to remember. ABC has responded to them with the following statement:

“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.”

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.