eBay has agreed to pay a $3 million penalty in connection to a harassment and stalking case that saw a Massachusetts couple receive strange deliveries, including live insects and a bloody pig mask. Seven employees and contractors were convicted in the harassment scheme conducted in 2019, which the Justice Department said stemmed from the victims criticizing eBay in their e-commerce newsletter.
The company’s employees and contractors involved in this campaign put the victims through pure hell, in a petrifying campaign aimed at silencing their reporting and protecting the eBay brand.
United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy
Prosecutors said eBay executives and other employees carried out an intimidation campaign against David and Ina Steiner that included threatening the couple on Twitter using fake accounts, installing a GPS device on the couple’s car, and publicly posting the victims’ address to encourage strangers to visit for sexual encounters.
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“eBay engaged in absolutely horrific, criminal conduct. The company’s employees and contractors involved in this campaign put the victims through pure hell, in a petrifying campaign aimed at silencing their reporting and protecting the eBay brand,” said Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy. “We left no stone unturned in our mission to hold accountable every individual who turned the victims’ world upside-down through a never-ending nightmare of menacing and criminal acts.”
The couple was also sent a book on surviving the loss of a loved one and odd packages, including live spiders and a funeral wreath. Under the terms of the agreement, eBay will retain an independent corporate compliance monitor for three years. In a statement, eBay said the company has taken full responsibility for the conduct of its former employees and continues to extend its deepest apologies to the Steiners.
The acting U.S. Attorney General added that seven former eBay employees and contractors were convicted with federal crimes related to the case. The “ringleader” of the operation was sentenced to more than four years in federal prison.
