3 UVA grads sue Rolling Stone over retracted rape story

RICHMOND, Va. -- Court documents show that three University of Virginia graduates and members of a fraternity profiled in a debunked account of a gang rape in a retracted Rolling Stone magazine story are suing the publication and the article's author.

The three graduates filed suit Wednesday in U.S. District Court in New York. They are also suing Rolling Stone's publisher, Wenner Media.

Rolling Stone asked for the independent review after other news media organizations exposed flaws in the November 2014 article, titled "A Rape on Campus." By Dec. 5, Rolling Stone apologized and acknowledged discrepancies in the article.

A four-month police investigation produced no evidence that the attack occurred.

The article focused on a student identified only as "Jackie," who said she was raped by seven men at a fraternity house. Jackie refused to cooperate in the police investigation.

"We would like to apologize to our readers and to all of those who were damaged by our story and the ensuing fallout, including members of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity and UVA administrators and students," the magazine's managing editor, Will Dana, wrote on the publication's website after the fallout.

A lawyer for the men said they suffered "vicious and hurtful attacks" because of the inaccuracies in the November 2014 article, which was written by journalist Sabrina Rubin Erdely.

A top UVA official dealing with sexual assaults at the Charlottesville school is also suing the school.

Rolling Stone and the author couldn't immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.