Does this hold merit?

[upholstery24]

Hi Folks,
I've been threatened with a defamation suit, here's the story and thanks in advanced...

My Son was on a youth football team, my wife and I were active volunteers with that team.

There was a heated email discussion between one parent [mom a] and my wife about the fundraising efforts the team was having. [mom a] made it publicly known (through the parent email list) that she did not feel like she had to partake in any fund raising efforts and pretty much discouraged others as well.

Well, needless to say, her efforts backfired and she was sort of put in her place by the team coach and other family members.

That same night, this parent's child decided to get his friends together and gang up on my son through out practice.

In a rage, I sent an email out to all the parents and explained what transpired. The following is the email that was sent - names excluded...

Dear Parents,

So after this exchange of emails from [the mom] and our supporting team. [boy a] saw fit to have himself and his friends gang up on our son [my son] tonight at practice. Real classy ***s family! Be proud of yourselves.

It is my understanding that [boy a] threw a ball into our Son's face while he was getting dressed. [boy b] and [boy c] threatened him and offered up racial remarks. It was clear that [boy b] and [boy c] were singling out our son during practice for no other reason but to hurt him. I have it all on film, their actions were very specific, intentional and dangerous.

Its unfortunate that our son, whose smaller then most all of the other kids, yet tries so very hard, had to endure this type of abuse. All because of a selfish parent, who got put into her place by all the supporting cast.

I put [my son] into this game so that he can have fun, get physically fit, and get the same sort of assertive attitude that I received when I played the game. It was not to have to deal with these types of things.

[the mom] - great job. Thanks for ruining a hard working kid's football experience.

Now, the mother of [boy c] refuses to believe that her son had any involvement in this and has threatened to file suit. Nothing has happened, yet.

My question is, do any of these people have anything on me? Especially, the mother of boy c ?

I have at least one child on the team that saw everything and even warned my son during practice. I have my own account of what I saw. I also have a few video clips that shows these boys with no other intentions during practice but to throw my son on the ground.

Also, if you read the email, I'm simply stating the events that I witnessed, another teammate witnessed, what my son endured, and what my camera caught. Is this defamation? In no part of the email am i saying - "[mom a] put her kid [boy a] up to this" I left that up to interpretation.

I'm also curious to know if I have enough here to file a counter for what happened to my son?

I feel like i've done nothing wrong here. The other parents needed to know what happened and what type of kids we have on the team.

Thanks folks.

 

[Proserpina]

I'll be brutally honest here.

You reacted inappropriately and should not have sent that email - it was simply a childish reaction and you've likely done nothing other than fan the flames some more and made it even more uncomfortable for your son.

However, it would not rise to defamation. The parent is blowing smoke. Even if it did rise to that standard, defamation suits are incredibly costly to litigate and unless she has several years and tens of thousands of dollars AND she can prove tangible damages, she'd go nowhere fast.

The adults should behave like adults

 

[mightymoose]

Ditto- drop it. A threatened lawsuit is not a lawsuit.
Quit fanning the fire. If your son was purposely attacked then you should let law enforcement deal with it.

 

[CdwJava]

The coaches should address the issue. Unfortunately, having been involved in youth football for a number of years, coaches may not be as up to the task as their counterparts in high school or college and may not be able to take proper control of the kids.

Youth sports - football, especially - is a highly emotional thing. I have resisted for a decade getting involved on any youth sports board for just this sort of reason ... parents.

As the others have indicated, this does not appear to rise to the level of defamation. You offered an interpretation of events that might be reasonable under the circumstances. Though, as was said, emailing it out to everyone may have been a bad idea. Not only does it force the other parent to square off and deny any responsibility, it might also embarrass your son. Being the father of a gaggle of boys, I can tell you that the last thing they tend to want is a parent fighting their battles ... or, causing them, for that matter.

Your son can probably work through this. Hopefully you can, too.