'RHOC' Star Vicki Gunvalson Sues Kelly Dodd for Defamation

Vicki Gunvalson is fuming over some good ol' fashioned trash talk her 'RHOC' costar Kelly Dodd dropped because she fears it could sink her real-life career.

According to docs filed Friday, and obtained by TMZ, a Jane Roe is suing Kelly and "The Real Housewives of Orange County" producers at Bravo and NBCUniversal over 3 statements Kelly allegedly barked at Vicki while shooting an episode in Key West:
- "You prey on older people."
- "You are a con woman."
- "You engaged in 'fraud.'"

Vicki says those things are all lies, and she told producers so, in writing ... explaining why each claim was false and could be damaging to her livelihood if they air.

Now, it's pretty clear the person behind the pseudonym, "Jane Roe," is Vicki because she describes herself as a TV personality on 'RHOC' who is also a retirement planning specialist and prez of an insurance and financial services company. So, yeah ... it's Vicki.

In the suit, Vicki points out she's never been sued over the last 31 years of her profession ... and has an A-Plus rating with the Better Business Bureau.

It's unclear from the docs if Kelly's remarks are actually going to air on the current season of 'RHOC,' but Vicki's going on the offensive because she believes the producers are going to leave it in the episode. She has reason to be worried ... in the trailer for season 14, Kelly drops the "con woman" line.

Vicki's not asking producers to kill the whole episode, she just wants those 3 sentences from Kelly's lips to be left on the cutting room floor. As she puts it, NBCUniversal "will suffer no harm to their popular TV program by removing a fraction of an overall episode."

Vicki's suing to get an injunction to block the episode from airing as is, and also for damages.