Defamation per se includes (false):
Allegations or imputations "injurious to another in their trade, business, or profession"
Allegations or imputations "of loathsome disease" (historically leprosy and sexually transmitted disease, now also including mental illness)
Allegations or imputations of criminal activity.
In the common law tradition, damages for such false statements are presumed and do not have to be proven.
Washington State has struck the statute on defamation, so your case would be reliant on the common law.
Whether there is anything you can collect against is another question that an attorney may ask.
