I was a manager, and another guy was a more senior manager in another division. We both did IT. For some reason he didn't like me and/or was trying to get our services moved to him, so he went to our director every week for over a year to tell him made-up stories about me.
He eventually left after a lot of people realized he was a highly manipulative, but I still hear things that he told people as part of an explanation about why I was passed up "for this" or why I wasn't right "for that." It cost me a lot of raises, especially in cases where things were gossiped to other people and the source was lost. Now I'm only a manager in title, but my management responsibilities were taken away.
Unfortunately, I'm caught in a ticking trap -- another 1.5 years and I retire with a full pension for the rest of my life. Losing that by leaving isn't worth it (assuming I live long enough afterwards).
A girl told a bunch of people I beat her up. She was eventually caught telling other lies about other people and I haven’t heard anything about it in years. But now I feel betrayed by friends that ostracized me for something I didn’t do and I don’t hang out with anyone any more. :/