A California professor has been given the go-ahead to sue Johnny Depp over a scuffle with the actor's bodyguards. 

Robin Eckert, who teaches at the University of California Irvine's medical school has been given permission to seek punitive damages from the Pirates of the Caribbean star thanks to a new ruling from a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge. 

Eckert, 53, claims she was roughed up by Depp's minders at an Iggy and the Stooges concert at the Hollywood Palladium last December. 

She also alleges the bodyguards attempted to take her iPhone, which contained confidential information related to her work as a physician. 

Depp's attorneys contend that Eckert was hostile and provoked the alleged assault.