The eBay Steiner settlement ends a civil lawsuit over a 2019 harassment campaign against Ina and David Steiner, the Massachusetts couple behind the ecommerce news site EcommerceBytes. According to the Steiners’ law firm, Scalli Murphy Law, eBay and several former executives agreed to $55.7 million in compensation and charitable commitments tied to the case.
Scalli Murphy Law said eBay will pay $46.15 million to the Steiners. Former eBay CEO Devin Wenig will pay $2 million, former Senior Vice President of Global Operations Wendy Jones will pay $500,000, and former Chief Communications Officer Steve Wymer will pay $50,000. The firm also said eBay will donate $6 million to charities, while Wenig will contribute $1 million to a First Amendment rights charity in Ina Steiner’s name.
Ina Steiner wrote on EcommerceBytes that she and David Steiner had formally settled the lawsuit they filed in 2021 over a campaign “designed to stop our reporting.” The Steiners filed a court notice to withdraw their complaint after the settlement, ending the civil case.
What did eBay employees do to Ina and David Steiner?
The case centered on a retaliation campaign aimed at the Steiners after coverage on EcommerceBytes angered people inside eBay. According to court records and prior criminal proceedings, the harassment included deliveries to the couple’s home of live cockroaches, a funeral wreath, a book about coping with the death of a spouse, and a bloody pig mask. The campaign also included threatening messages sent by email and Twitter, as well as an attempt to place a GPS tracker on the Steiners’ car.
Seven former eBay employees and contractors pleaded guilty in the criminal case. Former eBay security executives James Baugh, David Harville, Philip Cooke, and Stephanie Popp received prison sentences of 57 months, 24 months, 18 months, and 12 months, respectively. Two other defendants received a year of home confinement, and another was sentenced to time served plus one year of supervised release, according to the Justice Department.
eBay itself faced criminal charges over the episode and, in 2024, agreed to pay a $3 million fine under a deferred prosecution agreement with the US Department of Justice.
What did the lawsuit say about eBay executives?
Wenig and Wymer were not criminally charged, but the Steiners’ civil complaint accused them of giving subordinates broad permission to stop the couple’s reporting. The 2021 complaint quoted Wymer as writing, “I want to see ashes. As long as it takes. Whatever it takes,” and “We need to STOP her.”
An amended complaint filed in 2023 accused Jones of asking Baugh whether he could handle the matter “off the radar since comms and legal couldn’t handle it.” The complaint quoted Jones as saying, “Just get it done. I don’t want to know the details, just make sure you sync with Wymer.”
Scalli Murphy Law said the settlement with eBay and the former executives contains no confidentiality restrictions and required eBay to issue a public statement about the conduct and the company’s culture in 2019. The firm also said it reached additional settlements with other eBay employees named in the lawsuit.
In its statement, eBay said what happened to the Steiners was “wrong, reprehensible and should never have happened.” The company condemned the former employees who pleaded guilty and acknowledged what it called an “unprofessional tone” in internal communications involving Wenig, Wymer, and Jones. eBay said new leaders have joined since 2019 and that it has strengthened policies, controls, procedures, and training.
Scalli Murphy lawyer Christopher Murphy said the Steiners wanted to expose what happened, protect journalists and publishers, hold people accountable, deter future corporate misconduct, and prevent others from going through the same thing.
This story draws on original reporting from Ars Technica.
