One of the most bizarre episodes in e-commerce history has come to a close. eBay and several former eBay employees have agreed to pay $56 million to a newsletter-writing couple that was targeted by the company’s former executives in a horrific targeted harassment campaign that took place in 2019.
Ina and David Steiner, a married couple and the co-authors of EcommerceBytes, inspired the ire of high-level eBay executives after occasionally criticizing the company in their newsletter. In 2019, a plot was concocted to intimidate the couple into halting their negative coverage.
Executives used sock puppet social media accounts to harass the couple, while also sending them anonymous threatening letters and bizarre items in the mail — including live spiders and cockroaches, pornographic magazines, a bloody pig mask, a funereal wreath, and a book about surviving the death of a spouse.
According to previously released court documents, a plan that was attempted but never successfully carried out involved affixing a GPS tracking device to the couple’s car. Yet another internally broached plan involved sending a “Samoan gang” to the Steiners’ home.
The settlement this week resolves a 2021 civil case brought by the couple against eBay. The law office representing the Steiners writes that the settlement includes $46.15 million paid to the couple by eBay itself, as well as $2 million from former eBay executive CEO Devin Wenig.
Additionally, $500,000 will be paid out to the couple from former eBay executive Wendy Jones, as well as $50,000 from former eBay executive Steve Wymer. Additional funds are being paid to various non-profits.
In 2022, seven former eBay employees were criminally charged and pled guilty in relation to the plot, including the company’s former security chief, James Baugh — who was sentenced to nearly five years in prison. Others indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice include David Harville, Brian Gilbert, Stephanie Popp, Stephanie Stockwell, Philip Cooke, and former eBay contractor Veronica Zea.
In a statement published Tuesday, eBay disavowed its former employees’ behavior as “not representative of eBay’s culture” — which is comforting, I guess.
“As we have long stated, what the Steiners were subjected to by former eBay employees in 2019 was wrong, reprehensible and should never have happened,” eBay continued. “We condemn, in the strongest terms possible, the employees who perpetrated and pled guilty to criminal charges for the misconduct against Ina and David Steiner.”
“We continue to extend our deepest apologies to the Steiners. This agreement is consistent with our commitment to fairly compensate the Steiners and fulfills our efforts to make things right.”
“This case was always about more than obtaining financial recovery,” said Christopher Murphy, one of the Steiners’ attorneys. “From the beginning, our clients wanted to uncover the truth, protect journalists and publishers, hold those responsible accountable, deter future corporate misconduct, and help ensure others would never have to endure what they experienced.”
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