Dispute with employee. Can I file a defamation claim?

You have a potential defamation case, but it may not be easy to win anything. First of all, you have one year to file a defamation claim from the time the defamation took place. Then you must prove the defamation and prove that you were damaged by the defamation, for example, that your reputation in the community has been damaged. If the defamation doesn't spread beyond the fifth grade class, it may be that you have suffered no real loss of reputation. Of course, we must assume that some of the fifth graders told their parents, but the parents might keep it to themselves and not tell anyone. It will be difficult to bring in the other fifth grade parents and get them to testify that they thought your reputation was damaged. Chances are they will try to protect the employee's child because they will feel that the child should not be dragged into this.