My former boss just recently quit her position (about 3 weeks after I was fired) do I still have a case against her for defamation?

Yes, you could sue for defamation of character and possibly emotional distress.

Yes, you may have a defamation cause of action against your prior supervisor, so long as the elements for a defamation case are met. In California, a claim for defamation involves a false statement made by one person about another person, which causes harm to a persons' property, business, profession or occupation. The type of defamatory statement you're talking about is called slander, and involves making defamatory statements by a non-fixed representation, usually an oral representation. The elements in proving a successful defamation cause of action are 1) a false and defamatory statement about another; 2) the unprivileged publication of the statement to a third party (not including the person defamed by the statement and this does not have to be in print, the fact that it's spoken to a third party is enough); and 3) damages to the person defamed. In your case, if you can actually prove that you were fired because of the defamatory statements, then you may be able to prove damages and may have a successful defamation cause of action against the individual supervisor.

You may attempt a civil complaint against an out-of-state individual, but it will be ridiculously expensive, and if you find her to 'serve' her personally she can just move it to a federal court nearer her. Just because folks say to you nobody complained does not mean somebody didn't complain... people lie to be comforting and polite regularly. If you put them on a witness stand under oath and they see their boss and their boss' boss glaring at them, they might tell a completely different story. ONE WAY to air out exactly what documentation the HR dept possesses is to get Unemployment Insurance... if the former employer opposes your request for Unemployment benefits, and you lay out that the termination was not for good cause, the HR person appearing may produce other documents showing what this former employee obtained (emails, statements, etc).

You ask if you have a claim against a former supervisor for defamation. The particular comment which concerned you was that you were "not a good fit" at two stores and that they did not ask you back. You indicate that you were damaged in that you lost your job, but you also say it is one of several reasons why you were fired, so it is unclear what the other reasons were. Defamation is defined as a false statement that causes a person to be exposed to ridicule or hatred or contempt, or that tends to injure the victim in his or her occupation. In order to be actionable, a defamatory statement also has to be "unprivileged." In a nutshell, an employer or supervisor is generally permitted to communicate information about an employee's job performance to others who have a valid need to know, as long as the information is based on "credible evidence," and is made "without malice." There is a statute of limitations of one year for defamation, meaning that if you were to file a claim against someone for defamation, you would have to do so within one year of the defamatory act. Most employment is "at will," meaning that either party can terminate the employment relationship for any reason (or for no reason) at any time, except that an employer may not impose a termination or other type of adverse employment action on an employee based on an illegal motive (such as discrimination.) You have evidence that your supervisor appears to have lied about whether the other store managers perceived you as a "good fit" and asked that you not return. Without having more facts, it may be debatable whether this statement would be considered defamatory. If you are certain that you spoke to the only persons that could have conveyed information to you former supervisor, the next thing to ask might be what your "damages" are, meaning monetary or other losses that can be attributed to the defamatory statement. Assuming you have a viable claim, there is a risk that a lawsuit could cost much more than any compensation you could reasonably expect to claim. But there are a lot of missing facts, and it is unclear whether you have a viable potential claim or not. In cases where an employee disagrees about a performance evaluation, it is always good to try to resolve the problem politely and objectively by presenting facts showing that the evaluation is not accurate.

I know of no law that governs evaluations. Employers may do evaluations as they wish. These are, after all, internal business records that are, by their very nature, subjective opinions. Therefore, you may not sue for defamation. Georgia recognizes the doctrine of employment at will. Employment at will means that in the absence of a written contract of employment for a defined duration, an employer can terminate an employee for good cause, bad cause, a mistaken cause, or no cause at all, so long as it is not an illegal cause.

Yes, you can still sue an ex-employer for defamation, even though the boss has left the company. If you want to hire a lawyer, feel free to contact me.

Yes. You have to be able to prove that she said or wrote things about you and that they were not true. I am not sure if your suit could include your former employer, because if what she did was outside of her job, then the employer would NOT be involved.

On these facts, this does not appear to be a sound defamation case regardless of the supervisors change of employment status.

If she fired you, you probably have no case for slander. Slander is publishing false and defamatory information about someone. Publishing means you tell someone (a third party, not you), the false defamatory facts. If she told you", I'm firing you [because you did these things that aren't true]", she has not published the defamatory statements to a third party. If she made these statements to someone else who fired you on the basis of these statements, you may have a case. If she made these statements to others, but she made the decision to fire you, Then technically it may be slander, but you probably have no damages bea\cause her statements to the third parties did not get you fired. She did it. You were obviously fired under unfair circumstances. Unfortunately, an employer generally does not have to have a reason to fire you. To have a case against the employer for some type of wrongful termination (which is not your question, but is related to your question), you would have to show that the decision to terminate you was for some unlawful reason, such as discrimination based on your race, national origin, or gender. An employee handbook may also give rise to some rights.