(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Nicollette Sheridan's Desperate Housewives lawsuit has been postponed, according to a report.

Last year, the actress filed legal papers against show creator Marc Cherry and broadcasters ABC in which she alleged she suffered assault and battery, gender violence and wrongful termination. Sheridan insists she was a "model employee" up until she left the TV show in 2009, when her character Edie Britt was killed off. She alleges Cherry hit her across the face when they disagreed over a script in September 2008 and she found him difficult to work with.

In December, she dropped the claims of physical injury and emotional distress, and earlier this month a judge ordered the case to go to trial.

The case was supposed to start on June 8, but according to RadarOnline it has been pushed back until October 17. The site purports to have seen legal papers, which state Cherry and ABC asked for the postponement.

No further details about the reasons behind the delay have been revealed. A status conference has been slated for October 12.

In her lawsuit, the 47-year-old actress alleges: "Cherry's treatment of Sheridan, including his physical assault and battery of her, occurred because he is a homosexual man and she is a heterosexual woman."

Cherry has denied Sheridan's claims, insisting they only ever had a verbal disagreement. (C) Cover Media