eBay, Former Executives Agree $56M Settlement in Couple’s Harassment Case

eBay and three former senior executives have agreed to pay $55.7 million to settle a lawsuit brought by a Massachusetts couple who were targeted in a bizarre stalking and harassment campaign allegedly carried out by former company employees in retaliation for their coverage of the e-commerce giant.

David and Ina Steiner announced the settlement late on Monday, ending a case they filed in 2021 in a Boston federal court after several former eBay employees were prosecuted for targeting them in a cyber-stalking campaign. The harassment included sending the couple live cockroaches, fly larvae and a bloody Halloween pig mask.

Under the settlement, eBay will pay $46.15 million directly to the couple, fund $6 million in charitable contributions to non-profit organisations, and issue a “strongly worded” statement addressing the conduct of three former senior 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.

eBay said the treatment of 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 fulfils our efforts to make things right.”

 

Seven former eBay employees pleaded guilty and received prison sentences of up to 57 months for their involvement in the scheme. Prosecutors said some of them travelled from California to Natick, Massachusetts, to monitor the couple and attempt to install a GPS tracking device on their vehicle.

Prosecutors said the campaign was intended to silence the Steiners after senior executives criticised their newsletter, EcommerceBytes, which covered the company. The harassment campaign began after then-CEO Devin Wenig allegedly sent a text message in August 2019 to Steve Wymer, then eBay’s chief communications officer, saying it was time to “take her down”, referring to Ina Steiner, according to prosecutors and the Steiners.

eBay itself was criminally charged and agreed in 2024 to pay a $3 million fine.

Wenig, a former Thomson Reuters executive who stepped down as eBay’s CEO in September 2019, was never charged. His lawyers have maintained that he had no knowledge of, or involvement in, the harassment campaign, arguing that his messages referred to a public relations strategy to respond to Ina Steiner’s reporting.

As part of the settlement, the Steiners’ attorneys said Wenig will pay the couple $2 million and make a $1 million donation in Ina Steiner’s name to a charity focused on protecting First Amendment rights.

“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. “This behaviour is antithetical to everything I stand for and believe in.”

Wendy Jones, former senior vice-president of global operations at eBay, and Wymer will pay the couple $500,000 and $50,000 respectively, according to the plaintiffs. Their lawyers did not respond to requests for comment.

The Steiners’ lawyers said additional settlements had also been reached with other eBay employees named in the lawsuit.