Can a former employers current employees discuss why I was fired with random customers?

A former employer, whom I worked for for 6 weeks, now has a current employee telling random customers that I was fired. This happens if a customer asks where I am or what happened to me. I did work at this company and did get fired without any notice because I could not fulfill the extreme amount of tasks assigned to me. I know that I could not fulfill the extreme amount of tasks that were assigned to me but I feel that it is highly unacceptable to give this information to random customers. I live in an extremely small town and this is really hurting me from getting a job. The current employee who is relaying this information left employment with the employer and I replaced her in the position. She was not employed again with the employer until a week before I was terminated. They brought her back in to "help me." Which was what I was told until I was suddenly fired. I do not want to do anything legal, I just want to know if there is anything that can be done to make the gossip stop. I do not see where it is any of her business to be telling random customers what happened. I know this is not considered defamation due to the fact that I know I could not fulfill the tasks assigned but want to know if there is anything that can help me with the employee randomly telling people about my termination. Is there anything that can help me with this issue?