eBay’s bizarre cyberstalking saga ends with a $56 million settlement
eBay and several former executives have agreed to a $56 million settlement to resolve a lawsuit regarding a 2019 cyberstalking campaign against a couple who published a newsletter critical of the company. The settlement concludes a legal saga that involved criminal convictions for seven former employees.
Why it matters
The case serves as a high-profile example of corporate accountability and the legal consequences of executive-led harassment campaigns.
eBay and three former executives will pay $55.7 million as part of a settlement with a Massachusetts couple targeted with a bizarre harassment and cyberstalking campaign in 2019, as reported earlier by CNBC. The settlement will resolve a lengthy legal saga that revealed how eBay’s former executives sent live insects, a bloody pig mask, a funeral wreath, and other strange items to David and Ina Steiner over their newsletter’s coverage of eBay.
The Steiners, who operate the EcommerceBytes newsletter, sued eBay and its former executives — including ex-CEO Devin Wenig — in 2021. The lawsuit accused the company and its executives of launching a coordinated effort to “intimidate, threaten to kill, torture, terrorize, stalk and silence” the Steiners in an attempt to “stifle” their eBay-related reporting.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in