Rolling Stone denies it defamed U-Va. administrator in campus rape story

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Rolling Stone denies it defamed U-Va. administrator in campus rape story

Education
By T. Rees Shapiro July 17 at 11:15 AM

Rolling Stone magazine says it did not defame a University of Virginia administrator in publishing a story that alleged she did not take seriously a complaint that a student had been raped by members of a campus fraternity.

The magazine defended its actions in a response filed in U.S. District Court in Charlottesville Thursday, offering the publication’s first detailed remarks on a multimillion-dollar defamation complaint by U-Va. associate dean Nicole Eramo.

Eramo, who filed a lawsuit in May, is seeking $7.5 million in damages. She alleges that she was portrayed as callous and indifferent to a claim of a fraternity gang rape on campus; she says she took the claim seriously, contacted police and worked closely with the woman who said she had been attacked. The magazine steadfastly denies Eramo’s allegations and its lawyers seek to have the lawsuit dismissed in court.

{U-Va. dean files defamation lawsuit against Rolling Stone}

Eramo currently serves as U-Va.’s top administrator addressing sexual assault claims at the public flagship university. Her lawsuit focuses on a 9,000-word exposé called “A Rape on Campus,” published last fall in Rolling Stone by journalist Sabrina Rubin Erdely.



This image is from a $7.5 million defamation lawsuit against Rolling Stone. (Eramo v. Rolling Stone)

[PoliticAverse]

1. I wonder what they'll eventually settle for. n/t