Chris I just had something like this happen to me about a year ago. I was attacked by a person who was upset with me, with a business decision I was in on, and they made up a letter and sent it to a couple dozen stockholders really slamming me and calling me a thief and a crook.
I took the letter to one of the Company Attorney's and she about fell out of her chair

She said 'Well, you DEFINITELY have a slander suit here how do you want to go about it?" I told her I just wanted them to leave me alone. She sent a Cease and Desist letter to the person, and said the next contact from her would be a lawsuit. Somebody close to that person told me they about sh-- their pants when they got that letter and that was the end of it. People that this person sent the letter to were calling me with 'what the heck is THIS letter it's ignorant?' People knew me well enough to know it was all lies.
So to answer your post ----- DEFINITELY use caution when saying bad things about someone on a public forum! I know there are times when I said things I shouldn't we all do. But you do have to be very careful.