AfricaNews editorial desk
Media mogul Oprah Winfrey must defend a defamation case filed against her by Lerato Nomvuyo Mzamane the former headmistress of her girls' school in South Africa, a US judge ruled.
Mzamane, who once served as an administrator at Germantown Friends School, contends that Winfrey defamed her in 2007 in the wake of a sex-abuse scandal that erupted at the private boarding school 10 months after it opened.
Judge Eduardo Robreno refused to dismiss the legal action on Monday, saying Mzamane had enough evidence to pursue her claim, according to Phylli.com.
The star allegedly made remarks about Mzamane in 2007, after sex abuse complaints arose at the school. A dorm matron at the academy allegedly assaulted six girls, ages 13 to 15, and a coworker.
The trial is now set for 29 March in Philadelphia.
Winfrey suggested during the meeting with parents and a subsequent satellite news conference that Mzamane was not trustworthy and tried to cover up the allegations of abuse, according to the suit filed in Sept. 2008.
"I trusted her," Winfrey said of Mzamane during a meeting with parents. "When I appointed her, I thought she was passionate about the children of Africa . . . but I have been disappointed."
Mzamane, who now lives in Kenya, claimed Winfrey's comments made it impossible for her to find work for nearly a year.
Winfrey attempted to have the suit thrown out. But on Monday, a federal judge dismissed her request.
In a 128-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Eduardo C. Robreno concluded statements Winfrey made were "capable of defamatory meaning."
"The implication that [Mzamane] was aware of abuse . . . ascribes conduct which would render her unfit for her profession as an educator," Robreno wrote.
