3 former UVA fraternity members file defamation lawsuit against Rolling Stone

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University Virginia UVA Fraternity House Students Phi Kappa Psi

AP Photo/Steve Helber

In this Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015 photo, students participating in rush pass by the Phi Kappa Psi house at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va.

Three University of Virginia graduates on Wednesday filed a defamation lawsuit in New York against Rolling Stone magazine, its publisher Wenner Media, and a journalist over a now-debunked 2014 article describing a fraternity gang rape.

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The three men, all 2013 graduates and members of Phi Kappa Psi, the fraternity at the center of the story, claim the magazine was negligent in publishing an article entitled "A Rape on Campus" by Sabrina Rudin Erdely. They are seeking damages for defamation and infliction of emotional distress.

The fraternity announced in April that it would be suing the magazine, although no lawsuit has yet been filed. A UVA dean - Nicole Eramo - filed a defamation lawsuit against Rolling Stone in May.

Rolling Stone apologized in December for "discrepancies" in the account, after the story sparked a national debate over sexual violence on college campuses.

(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Bill Rigby)

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