Three University of Virginia graduates and members of Phi Kappa Psi have filed a defamation lawsuit against Rolling Stone magazine, its publisher Wenner Media and journalist Sabrina Rubin Erdely over the 2014 article A Rape on Campus.
The lawsuit, which was filed in New York on Wednesday, asserts that the magazine was negligent in publishing the article, which was removed from the Rolling Stone website when parts of it were shown to be inaccurate.
The article, written by Erdely, was published in November and recounted an alleged gang rape at the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house at the University of Virginia campus. After it was published, the school suspended all fraternities, but in the days that followed questions were raised about the accuracy of the article as other outlets followed up on the magazine feature.
The three men filing suit on Wednesday, all 2013 graduates and members of Phi Kappa Psi, are seeking damages for defamation and infliction of emotional distress.
Erdely did not respond to Guardian’s requests for comment, and Wenner Media declined to comment. They have previously issued statements apologizing for the piece.
On 5 April, the 9,000-word article was removed from Rolling Stone’s website and replaced with the Columbia Journalism School’s review of the story and its faults.
“We would like to apologize to our readers and to all of those who were damaged by our story and the ensuing fallout, including members of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity and UVA administrators and students,” Will Dana, the magazine’s managing editor, said at the time.
“Sexual assault is a serious problem on college campuses, and it is important that rape victims feel comfortable stepping forward. It saddens us to think that their willingness to do so might be diminished by our failings.”
“I want to offer my deepest apologies: to Rolling Stone’s readers, to my Rolling Stone editors and colleagues, to the UVA community, and to any victims of sexual assault who may feel fearful as a result of my article,” Erdely said in April.
“Reporting on rape has unique challenges, but the journalist still has the responsibility to get it right. I hope that my mistakes in reporting this story do not silence the voices of victims that need to be heard.”
Her statement was released at the same time as the Columbia report. Erdely said that reading the review, which was three months in the making, was a “brutal and humbling experience”.
After the report was released, the fraternity issued a statement saying: “After 130 days of living under a cloud of suspicion as a result of reckless reporting by Rolling Stone magazine, today the Virginia Alpha chapter of Phi Kappa Psi announced plans to pursue all available legal action against the magazine.”
In May, the university dean, Nicole Eramo, filed a defamation suit against the magazine, the publisher and Erdely. In a 76-page claim, filed in the Charlottesville, Virginia, circuit court, Eramo alleged the story had a “devastating” effect on her reputation and was seeking $7.85m in damages.
At that time, a crowdfunding campaign was launched to help Eramo finance her lawsuits.
“Nicole’s lawyers have agreed to discount their legal fees, but lawsuits are expensive and Nicole needs our help to cover the costs of litigation,” the page read. “If the lawsuit succeeds in requiring Rolling Stone to reimburse Nicole’s legal fees, contributions to this fund will be used to create a Sexual Assault Prevention Position at the University in memory of Nicole’s mother.”
Two and a half months later, the campaign has raised $28,346. Its goal is $500,000.
Reuters contributed to this report.
