eBay to pay $56m after shocking harassment campaign against blogger couple

eBay and several former senior executives have agreed to pay nearly $56m to resolve a civil lawsuit brought by Massachusetts couple Ina and David Steiner, whose lives were turned upside down by a coordinated harassment and stalking campaign linked to former company employees.

The settlement concludes years of legal proceedings stemming from a 2019 campaign targeting the Steiners, who operate EcommerceBytes, a respected news website covering the ecommerce industry. Their reporting frequently scrutinised eBay's policies and business decisions, frustrating some executives within the company.

According to attorneys representing the Steiners, the campaign was intended to intimidate the couple and pressure them into stopping their coverage of eBay. Federal prosecutors later uncovered evidence showing that the harassment escalated far beyond online abuse, becoming an organised effort involving threats, surveillance and deeply disturbing deliveries.

The Steiners received anonymous threatening messages alongside packages containing live spiders, live cockroaches, pornographic magazines, a bloody pig mask, a funeral wreath and a book about surviving the death of a spouse. The deliveries were designed to frighten the couple and create constant fear inside their own home.

Court documents also revealed that former eBay employees travelled to Massachusetts to monitor the Steiners, conducted physical surveillance and attempted to install a GPS tracking device on their vehicle. The scheme became the subject of a federal criminal investigation after authorities traced the activity back to individuals employed by the company.

The newly announced settlement totals nearly $56m. eBay will pay approximately $46.1m, while former chief executive Devin Wenig has agreed to contribute $2m. Former senior vice president of operations Wendy Jones will pay $500,000, while former chief communications officer Steve Wymer will contribute $50,000. Additional settlements have also been reached with other former employees named in the civil litigation.

As part of the agreement, eBay issued a public statement acknowledging the seriousness of what happened.

"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," the company said. "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."

The company added that the settlement "fulfils our efforts to make things right" and said it has since introduced new leadership along with strengthened policies, internal controls and employee training designed to prevent similar misconduct.

The civil settlement follows an extensive criminal case that resulted in seven former eBay employees pleading guilty to charges connected to the harassment campaign. Among them was James Baugh, the company's former senior director of safety and security, who received a prison sentence of nearly five years for his role in orchestrating the operation.

Although Wenig contributed financially to the settlement, he was never criminally charged. Following the criminal proceedings, he maintained that the harassment campaign was carried out without his knowledge and said those responsible acted in secret.

The case attracted widespread attention because of the extraordinary lengths taken to intimidate journalists covering a major technology company. Prosecutors described internal communications in which senior executives expressed anger over the Steiners' reporting, including one message in which Wenig reportedly wrote that the company should "take her down", referring to Ina Steiner. Prosecutors did not allege that the message amounted to a criminal instruction, and Wenig has consistently denied knowing about the subsequent campaign.