eBay Agrees to $56 Million Settlement Over 2019 Harassment Campaign Against Newsletter Publishers

eBay and several former executives have agreed to pay $56 million to Ina and David Steiner, the married couple behind e-commerce newsletter EcommerceBytes, resolving a civil lawsuit stemming from an extraordinary harassment campaign carried out against them in 2019.

The Steiners became targets after publishing articles that occasionally criticised eBay and its business practices. Prosecutors and court documents later revealed that former company employees orchestrated an effort intended to intimidate the couple and discourage their negative coverage.

The campaign included harassment through fake social media accounts, anonymous threatening messages and a series of disturbing packages delivered to the Steiners’ home. Items sent to the couple included live spiders and cockroaches, pornographic magazines, a bloody pig mask, a funeral wreath and a book about coping with the death of a spouse.

Harassment campaign included surveillance plans

Previously released court documents showed that the campaign went beyond online harassment and unwanted deliveries. Participants attempted to place a GPS tracking device on the Steiners’ vehicle, although that plan was never completed.

Another proposal discussed internally involved sending what was described as a “Samoan gang” to the couple’s home.

The Steiners filed their civil lawsuit against eBay and others in 2021, seeking accountability for the campaign and the damage it caused. The newly announced settlement brings that case to an end several years after criminal prosecutions began against people involved in the scheme.

eBay will pay most of the settlement

According to the law firm representing the Steiners, eBay itself will pay $46.15 million to the couple as part of the agreement.

Former eBay CEO Devin Wenig will contribute $2 million, while former executive Wendy Jones will pay $500,000 and former executive Steve Wymer will contribute $50,000. Additional money included in the settlement will be distributed to nonprofit organisations.

The agreement follows criminal cases against former eBay employees involved in the harassment operation. Seven former employees pleaded guilty to criminal charges connected with the plot in 2022.

Among them was former eBay security chief James Baugh, who received a prison sentence of nearly five years. Others charged by the U.S. Department of Justice included David Harville, Brian Gilbert, Stephanie Popp, Stephanie Stockwell, Philip Cooke and former eBay contractor Veronica Zea.

eBay condemns actions of former employees

In a statement Tuesday, eBay again condemned the harassment and said the behaviour of the former employees involved did not represent thecompany’ss culture.

The company described what happened to Ina and David Steiner as wrong and reprehensible and said the campaign should never have occurred. eBay also strongly condemned the employees who participated in the misconduct and later pleaded guilty to criminal charges.

eBay said it continues to apologise to the Steiners and described the settlement as part of its effort to compensate the couple fairly and address the consequences of the 2019 campaign.

Steiners sought accountability beyond compensation

Christopher Murphy, an attorney representing the Steiners, said the lawsuit was never solely about obtaining financial compensation.

According to Murphy, the couple also wanted to establish what happened, protect journalists and publishers, hold those responsible accountable and discourage companies from engaging in similar misconduct in the future.

The case became one of the technologyindustry’ss most unusual corporate scandals, involving senior employees of a major public company targeting two independent publishers over coverage they disliked.

The $56 million agreement closes the Steiners’ civil case years after the harassment campaign first came to light, adding a substantial financial consequence to the prison sentences and criminal convictions already resulting from the scheme.