Oprah Winfrey could be in court - as early as 29 March for a defamation case filed by the former headmistress of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa.

Lerato Nomyuyo Mzamane has citede that Oprah Winfrey defamed her in 2007 after a sex-abuse scandal erupted at the private boarding school, only ten months after it opened.

A dorm matron, who was charged in 2007, at the academy had assaulted six girls, aged 13-15 and a co-worker.

The suit filed against Oprah Winfrey in 2008 said that Winfrey suggested that during a meeting with parents and conferences, that Mzamane was not trustworthy and that she had tried to cover up the allegations of abuse.

Oprah's former employee has claimed that Winfrey's comments made it impossible for her to find work for nearly a year.

Winfrey attempted to have the case dismissed, however on Monday (15 March) a federal judge dismissed the request.

Although US. District Judge Eduardo C. Robreno rejected the claim that Winfrey intentionally inflicted emotional distress, he did conclude the statements Winfrey made were "capable of defamatory meaning", and ordered that the trial begins in Philadelphia on 29 March.

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