The eBay Steiner settlement will send $48.7 million in direct compensation to EcommerceBytes publishers Ina and David Steiner, resolving their civil case over a 2019 campaign of threats, disturbing deliveries and surveillance. Another $7 million will go to charitable commitments, bringing the agreement’s reported value to $55.7 million.
The distinction is more than accounting clutter. The couple receives the $48.7 million; the larger, rounded $56 million figure includes money promised to nonprofits. The settlement also has no confidentiality provision, so the Steiners may discuss the case publicly, according to an Associated Press report carried by ABC News.
Ina and David Steiner publish EcommerceBytes, a newsletter covering e-commerce and eBay. Their 2021 federal lawsuit alleged that eBay conspired to intimidate, stalk and silence them in response to their reporting. The agreement resolves that civil case; it is not a court verdict on every allegation.
How is the eBay Steiner settlement divided?
- eBay will pay $46.15 million of the direct compensation.
- Former eBay CEO Devin Wenig will pay $2 million.
- Former executive Wendy Jones will pay $500,000.
- Former chief communications officer Steve Wymer will pay $50,000.
- eBay will make $6 million in charitable contributions.
- Wenig will contribute $1 million to a First Amendment-rights charity in Ina Steiner’s name.
CNBC and the AP report that the campaign began with threatening online messages and escalated to deliveries including live insects, a funeral wreath, a bloody pig mask and a book about surviving the death of a spouse. Former eBay employees also physically surveilled the couple and attempted to put a GPS tracking device on their car, according to CNBC.
The civil case followed criminal proceedings, which were separate from this settlement. Seven former eBay employees pleaded guilty to charges related to the scheme, CNBC reported. James Baugh, eBay’s former senior director of safety and security, received a prison sentence of almost five years. Wenig was not named in the criminal case; he told the Boston Globe that the harassment had been carried out secretly and without his knowledge, CNBC reported.
eBay said the Steiners’ treatment by former employees was “wrong, reprehensible and should never have happened.” The company also acknowledged what it called an unprofessional tone in internal communications involving Wenig, Wymer and Jones, according to the AP report. It said it had since changed leadership and strengthened policies, procedures and ethics training.
The parties had announced a tentative deal in February that was not finalized. After the Steiners asked in June to return the case to the trial calendar, they reached the new agreement in July, the AP reported. The public terms close the civil litigation while leaving the record available for the couple to discuss.
Read the Associated Press report on the settlement details.
This story draws on original reporting from Techdirt.
