NBC News reports that Rolling Stone magazine has asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by three graduates of theUniversity of Virginia who say Sabrina Erdely’s debunked piece, “A Rape on Campus: A Brutal Assault and Struggle for Justice at UVA,” has damaged their reputations. Rolling Stone contends that since the graduates were not named in the piece, “no reasonable reader” would assume they were the subject of the article.
The plaintiffs, however, say they can easily be tracked by their graduation year and affiliation with the fraternity named in the article and as suchtheir names “will forever be associated with the alleged gang rape.”
Even if the case is dismissed, Rolling Stone faces two other lawsuits in connection with the article. The fraternity itself is suing the magazine for$25 million, andNicole Eramo, associate dean of students at UVA andheadofthe universitys sexual misconduct board, is asking for $7.8 million from Rolling Stone and Erdely, saying she was named in the article and portrayedunfairly.
