A Manhattan federal appeals court has revived a portion of a defamation case filed by three fraternity brothers who were falsely accused of participating in the debunked UVA gang-rape story published by Rolling Stone.
Although Phi Kappa Psi members George Elias IV, Stephen Hadford, and Ross Fowler were not individually named in the story, they claim in the suit that the infamous Rolling Stone piece led to accusations of rape being hurled against them.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit court of Appeals announced that the three men have the right to argue that they were defamed by the piece, which led to a settlement worth $1.65 million between Rolling Stone Magazine and Phi Kappa Psi. A trial jury also awarded $3 million in damages to an associate dean at the University of Virginia.
The decision to allow the men to move forward with their defamation claim rests on the basis that the fraternity has a small membership. According to the suit, descriptions in the article regarding where the debunked altercation took place or that one of the assailants was a swimmer could have lead familiar parties to identify students that were alleged to have been involved.
Rolling Stone retracted the original article five months after its publication once information suggested that the alleged altercation never occurred.
In a statement published on Tuesday in response to the court’s announcement, Rolling Stone said, “We are disappointed with the Second Circuit’s ruling today, but are confident that this case has no merit.”