compensation from the Imperial Hotel Company, is now seeking new investors for her business.

But Mrs. Joyce Hayden has also vowed that she will appeal the ruling.

After operating a retail store for intimate apparel for 17 years, La Femme and its companion business, Hayden's, are leaving quarters on Washington Lane at the end of the month.

Mrs. Hayden said she is negotiating to move to another City location soon. She is now advertising for investors who may wish to get involved in a business that grew to sales of $400,000 in the eighties.

The 56-year-old businesswoman said that the potential for the business is larger, because of a client list of almost 12,000 people.

A new investor would probably have to learn corsetry from Mrs. Hayden for that segment of the business. But she said that another potential investor who might be strong in marketing or inventory control was also a possibility.

She said an investor could get involved for a sum starting at $25,000.

Mrs. Hayden was last in the news after she had claimed damages against Imperial Hotel for alleged negligence and breach of a lease signed on August 28, 1984, when the business was on Church Street.

She accused her former landlord of allowing the premises to be infested with rats, and of failing to install proper electrical, plumbing and air conditioning systems.

Other allegations included letting gas, water, smoke and dust filter into the building.

In denying the plaintiff compensation, Puisne Judge the Hon. Justice Ground, said he accepted Imperial Hotel's director, Mr. Rolf Wittich, was a "difficult, and at times intransigent, landlord''. However, he stressed Mrs.

Hayden should have dealt with her problems through arbitration at the time.

Mr. Ground said he did attribute three of Mrs. Hayden's complaints to breaches of the lease.

Mrs. Hayden's lawyer, Mr. Jai Pachai, said after the decision that he was "disappointed and surprised'' by Mr. Ground's ruling.

"On the one hand he finds that the defendant was liable to pay damages for breaches of the covenant, and then he goes on to dismiss her claim.''