Workplace Defamation; I am the General manager of a restaurant. One of my employees went on Tripadvisor pretending to be a customer and wrote a horrible review about me titled

Workplace Defamation; I am the General manager of a restaurant. One of my employees went on Tripadvisor pretending to be a customer and wrote a horrible review about me titled "Obnoxious Hostess" saying such things as "maybe too many drinks" and "laughing obnoxiously and talking too loud". A few of the employees that he told came to me in private and told me that he wrote it. At first he denied it, then later when it was apparent he was caught admitted to it and removed the review. Breaking the law by printing third-party defamation and furtherly breaking the Tripadvisor Terms of Service which comes with its own repercussions seemed like a reason for instant termination to me. The owner's ex-wife would not let me fire him and only would allow a "Written Warning" and an insincere apology. The owners suggested i make a contract out of court between me and the man who wrote the review asking him to pay me $1000 to keep it out of court. Knowing that "loss of pay" is a legal punishment I wrote a contract between he and the company. The owner said he didn't want to be involved and that the contract should be made between the two of us. This did not sound legal to me more like extortion so I refused and would like to settle this in a official way in court. It took weeks for the truth to come out after the review was posted and in those weeks my previously wonderful relationship with the owner turned to one of shame and embarrassment. I had to actually have a meeting where I am told I am obnoxious and why and that i need to conduct myself more like a "lady" should, change my deep authoritative voice, etc. and was encouraged to turn in my two weeks notice after a practically flawless 7 months of employment. Because of not wanting to work with someone who had harassed me in such a way, my schedule has been changed, I was told not to come in certain days he was working and now am expected to come in on my days off to make up the time. The effects this has had on my relationships with other employees has also turned quite awkward. Since he is still working there the man who originally told me feels like he made a mistake by reporting it and feels so uncomfortable by the whole thing he is quitting his job with us. Others who work there have also said they may quit because of the unfairness of the whole thing. I would like to sue for damages from Defamation and know if my Employer handled this situation in a legal way. I need this case to be handled on Contingency. Please call and leave a detailed message or email. Thank you, R.B.