UPDATE 1-University of Virginia official sues Rolling Stone over rape story

May 12, 2015 5:49 PM

(Adds background on Columbia review)

By Ian Simpson

May 12 (Reuters) - A University of Virginia official filed a $7.85 million libel lawsuit against Rolling Stone magazine, its parent company and a reporter on Tuesday over a now-debunked story of a gang rape on the U.S. campus.

The lawsuit claimed that Nicole Eramo, associate dean of students, was defamed by Rolling Stone, Wenner Media and reporter Sabrina Rubin Erdely in the November 2014 article about an alleged 2012 gang rape at the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity.

The article, "A Rape On Campus," sparked a national debate about sexual violence at U.S. colleges.

In December, after questions about the story's veracity, Rolling Stone apologized for "discrepancies" in the account and admitted that it never sought comment from seven men accused of the alleged rape.

A Columbia University review commissioned by Rolling Stone in December and released in April cited the magazine for reporting and editing lapses. The report was written by Steve Coll, dean of the Columbia journalism school; Derek Kravitz, a post graduate research scholar at the school, and Sheila Coronel, academic dean at the journalism school.

The lawsuit, filed in state Circuit Court in Charlottesville, Virginia, said Rolling Stone, Wenner Media and Erdely aimed to depict the University of Virginia as an institution that was indifferent to rape on campus.

"To personify the university's alleged institutional indifference to rape, Erdely and Rolling Stone cast Dean Eramo, who met with and counseled Jackie (the alleged rape victim), as the chief villain of the story," it said.

The lawsuit filed by attorney Tom Clare of Alexandria, Virginia, seeks at least $7.5 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages.

Elizabeth McNamara, an attorney with New York's Davis Wright Tremaine LLP representing Rolling Stone, declined to comment.

The magazine is owned by Jann Wenner, who founded it in 1967. Wenner Media, which is privately held, also publishes the magazines Us Weekly and Men's Journal.

An investigation by Charlottesville police found no evidence that Jackie had been gang raped.

The magazine has said it would commit itself to recommendations made in the Columbia University review. Erdely also has apologized for the story. (Reporting by Ian Simpson in Washington; Editing by Toni Reinhold)