Jury hits Rolling Stone with $3 million in libel damages

Jurors awarded a University of Virginia administrator $3 million today after deciding last week that Rolling Stone defamed her in an article about campus rape. Nicole Eramo, former associate dean of students, sued the magazine and reporter Sabrina Erdely for an article about a gang rape at a fraternity house. A jury found Friday that Erdely had good reason to doubt the accusations made by a student known as “Jackie,” but she pursued the story anyway. The article portrayed Eramo as indifferent to Jackie’s plight when, in fact, she said tried to help the student. Subsequent investigations revealed many of the facts in Jackie’s story were made up. Eramo originally asked for $7.5 million in damages.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.