UVa graduates sue Rolling Stone over rape story
US News
UVa graduates sue Rolling Stone over rape story
Three University of Virginia graduates on Wednesday filed a defamation lawsuit in New York against Rolling Stone magazine, its publisher Wenner Media and a journalist over a now-debunked 2014 article describing a fraternity gang rape. The three men, all 2013 graduates and members of Phi Kappa Psi, the fraternity at the center of the story, claim the magazine was negligent in publishing an article “A Rape on Campus,” by Sabrina Rudin Erdely. They are seeking damages for defamation and infliction of emotional distress.
Plaintiffs have each suffered emotional turmoil, were entirely unable to focus at work and in school following release of the article and are still being questioned often about the article’s accusations.
Students’ lawsuit
The lawsuit follows a $7.85 million libel suit filed against the same three parties by Nicole Eramo, UVa’s associate dean of students and top administrator in dealing with sexual assaults. Eramo said she was defamed in the article, which falsely claimed she tried to persuade Jackie not to report the rape. A Charlottesville, Va., police investigation found no evidence that Jackie had been gang-raped. Elizabeth McNamara, an attorney with New York’s Davis Wright Tremaine LLP representing Rolling Stone, did not respond to a request for comment.
