A Massachusetts couple who publish a tech newsletter have been awarded $56 million in a settlement with eBay and three former executives over an alleged cyberstalking and harassment campaign sparked by their coverage of the company.
A yearslong legal battle over eBay's harassment of two Massachusetts journalists has ended with the company agreeing to pay nearly $56 million to Ina and David Steiner, whose independent newsletter EcommerceBytes became the target of an intimidation campaign after publishing coverage that angered company leaders, as CBS News reports. The settlement also requires eBay to publicly address the conduct of former executives tied to the case, while three former executives will personally contribute to the payout.
Beginning in 2019, the Natick couple was subjected to months of escalating harassment that included anonymous threats, disturbing deliveries such as a bloody pig mask, live insects and a book about coping with the death of a spouse, as well as unwanted pornography mailed to neighbors and a fake Craigslist ad inviting strangers to their home.
As SFist reported previously, the harassment was prompted by several articles written by Ina Steiner on EcommerceBytes, particularly one about a lawsuit filed by eBay accusing Amazon of poaching its sellers, as eBay was under mounting pressure from an activist hedge at the time, according to The New York Times.
Prosecutors later cited internal messages in which then-CEO Devin Wenig reportedly wrote, “Take her down,” while former chief communications officer Steve Wymer responded, “I want to see ashes. As long as it takes. Whatever it takes.”
As previously reported, former Santa Clara police captain Philip Cooke, who had gone on to oversee security operations for eBay's Europe and Asia offices, was among the first defendants to plead guilty. Another retired Santa Clara police captain, Brian Gilbert, was also charged, as federal prosecutors alleged the security team orchestrated the harassment campaign in an effort to curry favor with company leadership.
The Steiners reportedly said they became so fearful they slept in separate rooms in case someone broke into their house, as CBS News reports.
“It felt like corporate terrorism because we were terrorized. And it was very calculated. It was very vicious,” Ina Steiner told 60 Minutes.
The harassment unraveled after investigators traced a rental van used to follow David Steiner. Seven members of the company's security team ultimately pleaded guilty to federal charges, with several serving prison time. eBay later paid a $3 million criminal penalty under a deferred prosecution agreement after the Justice Department charged the company with stalking, witness tampering, and obstruction of justice, per the Times.
The Steiners, who first sued eBay in 2021, said the settlement was about more than financial compensation.
“We wanted to find the truth,” said Ina Steiner, speaking to the Times. “As victims you need to know: Why did this happen to me? And we wanted it to be a deterrent — to have corporate executives think twice before they said words and set things in motion.”
In a statement Tuesday, eBay again apologized, calling what happened to the Steiners “wrong, reprehensible and should never have happened,” while acknowledging the “unprofessional tone” of internal communications involving former CEO Devin Wenig, former Chief Communications Officer Steve Wymer, and former Senior Vice President Wendy Jones. The company said the conduct does not reflect its current culture and pointed to changes in leadership, policies, and ethics training since the incident.
Previously: Former Santa Clara Police Captain Pleads Guilty In Bizarre eBay Cyberstalking Case
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