Ebay and ex-executives to pay $55.7m to couple sent cockroaches in harassment campaign
Published by theguardian.com
A source is testimony, not proof. Citing one is a provenance fact — it records who said what, where — and never a verification that the claim is true.
Who is named
The characters and things this document talks about — 8 in alls. Each links to everything else the record knows about them.
Organisations 1
Places 2
Things 1
Claims made
Every claim in this document. Firsthand = asserted on its own basis; secondhand = recounted from elsewhere, carrying no independent weight.
-
Ebay and three former top executives have agreed to pay $55.7m to resolve a lawsuit by a Massachusetts couple who fell victim to a bizarre stalking and harassment campaign carried out by several of its employees in retaliation for their coverage of the e-commerce company in a newsletter they publish.
-
eBay agreed to pay $46.15 million to David and Ina Steiner as part of the settlement.
As part of the settlement, eBay agreed to pay $46.15m to the couple
-
fund $6m in charitable contributions to non-profit organizations
-
issue a “strongly-worded” statement about the conduct of three of its top former executives
-
“We believe this resolution sends a clear message that corporations and their executives cannot engage in this type of misconduct without facing significant consequences,” Christopher Murphy, the Steiners’ attorney, said in a statement.
-
The incident was wrong, reprehensible and should never have happened.
Ebay said in a statement that what happened to the Steiners was “wrong, reprehensible and should never have happened”
-
“We continue to extend our deepest apologies to the Steiners,” the company said.
“This agreement is consistent with our commitment to fairly compensate the Steiners and fulfills our efforts to make things right.”
-
Seven former eBay workers pleaded guilty and received sentences of as high as 57 months in prison for participating in the scheme
-
which also involved several of them traveling from California to Natick, Massachusetts, to surveil the Steiners and try to install a GPS tracking device on their car
-
Prosecutors have said that the aim was to silence them after senior executives deemed their newsletter, EcommerceBytes, critical of the company.
-
The campaign began after the then CEO, Devin Wenig, in August 2019 texted Steve Wymer, then its chief communications officer, that it was time to “take her down”, referring to Ina Steiner, according to prosecutors and the Steiners.
-
eBay was criminally charged and agreed in 2024 to pay a $3 million fine.
Ebay itself was criminally charged and agreed in 2024 to pay a $3m fine.
-
Devin Wenig was never charged.
Wenig, a former Thomson Reuters executive who stepped down as eBay’s CEO in September 2019, was never charged.
-
His lawyers have argued he had no knowledge or involvement in the harassment campaign and that his messages had been advocating for a public relations strategy to address Ina Steiner’s reporting.
-
As part of the settlement, the Steiners’ attorneys said Wenig will pay them $2m and make a $1m donation to a charity focused on protecting first amendment rights in the name of Ina Steiner.
-
“No one should ever have been subjected to what the Steiners endured in 2019, and I’m saddened by it, especially because it occurred during my time as CEO of eBay,” Wenig said in a statement on Tuesday.
-
Wendy Jones, who previously served as senior vice-president of global operations, and Wymer will pay the couple $500,000 and $50,000, respectively, the plaintiffs say.
-
The Steiners’ lawyers said additional settlements were reached with all other eBay employees named in their lawsuit.
No claims match this filter.
What it cost
Reading this document into the graph cost <$0.01.
18 claims in all. Content fingerprint b11dec979010… —
the document's text itself is not republished here; follow the link above to read it at
its source.