As an attorney in practice for over 38 years, I offer the following:
1. The First Amendment applies only to government prohibition or regulation of speech. It is inapplicable to disputes between private parties.
2. Defamation claims typically have short statutes of limitation depending on the State (i.e., 1 to 2 years from the date of the defamation). So, depending on when the alleged defamatory statement was made, dCS might be time-barred from asserting such a claim.
3. If dCS is determined to be a corporate "public figure," then the alleged defamatory statement must have been made with "actual malice" for there to be a recovery (monetary or otherwise), which is a fairly high bar to overcome.