CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (KRON) — The dean of the University of Virginia is trying to repair it’s tarnished reputation after Rolling Stone Magazine posted a story titled “A Rape on Campus: A Brutal Assault and Struggle for Justice at UVA,” which turned out to be partially fabricated and mostly unfounded by filing a defamation lawsuit against the publication.
Dean Nicole Eramo described the story as “false and grossly misleading” and is pursuing legal action.
According to court documents, the suit is targeted toward Rolling Stone’s Contributing Editor, Sabrina Rubin Erdely, who “wrote the article, which caused a national media firestorm and has been viewed online more than 2.7 million times.”
The suit argues that Rolling Stone published the story knowing it was fabricated with the intent “to weave a narrative that depicted the University of Virginia as an institution that is indifferent to rape on campus, and more concerned with protecting its reputation than with assisting victims of sexual assault,” according to court documents.
The article, published December of 2014, tells a graphic story of the heinous gang-rape of a University freshman girl. The article claims the freshman, “Jackie” was invited to a fraternity function by a member of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity and a coworker at the University pool.
According to Rolling Stone, once “Jackie” got to the party, she was lead upstairs to a dark room where she was tackled through a glass table, punched in the face, was pinned down and raped for several hours by multiple fraternity brothers.
The article portrays Dean Eramo as a conniving big-wig who’s only priority is maintaining the reputation of the prestigious university.
The Washington Post reported that Rolling Stone portrayed Dean Eramo as “incompetent and insensitive,” while Dean Eramo was “actually quite active in seeking an investigation and justice for the allegations” Jackie presented.
The 76 page suit outlines that Eramo is seeking $7,500,000.00 in damages from the magazine.