Valerie Harper sued for $2 million by Matthew Lombardo for not informing him ...
Valerie Harper is being sued by Matthew Lombardo for not informing him that her cancer had returned, reports TMZ.
Harper was in rehearsals for a national tour of the Broadway playwright's production of 'Looped' when she was diagnosed with leptomeningeal carcinomatosis, a rare and lethal condition that occurs when cancer cells spread into the fluid-filled membrane surrounding the brain, in January 2013. She was given months to live.
Prior to her diagnosis, signs such as slurred speech and memory loss became a problem during the show's rehearsals and she was reportedly urged to seek medical attention.
Lombardo claims that in order to keep her job, which garnered a 2010 Tony Award nomination for her portrayal of legendary actress Tallulah Bankhead, she failed to inform him that the lung cancer she was battling in 2009 had moved to her brain.
She is said to have dropped out of the Broadway production the same month of her diagnosis, leaving Lombardo and the producers scrambling for a replacement.
Stefanie Powers eventually stepped into the role, but the lawsuit by Lombardo and the play's producers supposedly states that they lost in excess of $500,000 due to having to replace Harper with such short notice.
In total, the 'Rhoda' star is being sued suing for $2 million, with Lombardo and the producers reportedly adding an additional $1.5 million to the original amount because of Harper's misdeeds.
The 74-year-old actress beat the dismal diagnosis she received from doctors in early 2013 and while she's still battling the disease, she's still alive.
'I am not 'absolutely cancer-free,'' she recently said in a statement in response to a magazine misquoting her as 'cancer-free.'
'I wish I were,' she continued. 'Right now what I am is cautiously optimistic about my present condition and I have hope for the future.'
Harper's immediate future includes a legal battle that began when she sued the producers over allegations they failed to pay her until the end of her contract.
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