A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has ruled TV producer Aaron Spelling may sue his former nurse for violating a confidentiality agreement.

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Spelling, 83, and his wife, Candy, 60, filed a breach-of-contract suit against Charlene Richards for her signed promise not to reveal personal details about the couple to acquaintances.

Richards is suing Spelling in a sensational sexual harassment suit in which, among other things, she claims he told her to "dress like a hooker" and repeatedly asked her to have sex with him.

Richards and her attorney sent letters to more than 600 actresses who worked with the producers of "Charlie's Angels," "Beverly Hills, 90210" and "Melrose Place," asking whether they had been sexually harassed by Spelling.

Spelling claimed the letters constituted defamation of character but that claim was rejected by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge William Highberger Monday, The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.

The judge said Richards was within her rights sending out the survey in search of witnesses for her own case. However, he let the breach-of-contract charge against her stand for allegedly telling her boyfriend intimate details of the celebrity couple's life.

Lawyers for both sides said they would appeal the ruling.