EBay consents to pay $three million in harassment case concerning stay insects, a pig fetus, and intercourse events

The bizarre case of eBay harassing and stalking a Massachusetts couple who criticized the auction platform has ended with the company agreeing to pay $3 million to settle criminal charges. It's certainly a unusual story, one which entails a pig fetus, live bugs, and doxing.

The tale began in 2019, when Ina and David Steiner posted an editorial of their EcommerceBytes newsletter that painted eBay in a poor light. The piece become about the public sale website online launching a lawsuit that accused Amazon of poaching dealers.

It appears eBay was a ways from glad approximately being called out. In response to the letter, seven high-stage personnel devised a harassment campaign against the couple. This included sending a preserved fetal pig, live spiders and cockroaches, a bloody pig masks, a e book approximately coping with the death of a spouse, and a funeral wreath to the Steiners.

While that might sound like enough retaliation, the executives also visited the couple's domestic to conduct surveillance, located a GPS monitoring tool on their vehicle, despatched private and public threats to the couple on social media, and used Craigslist to put up invitations for strangers to visit the Steiners' house to interact in sexual encounters. Pornography addressed to David Steiner become sent to the Steiners' neighbors, and the pair were signed up for newsletters for Sin City Fetish Night, the Satanic Temple, the Communist Party, and dozens more.

The eBay personnel answerable for the harassment have been fired quickly after the incidents. All seven pleaded guilty to the crook fees against them. One of the group, Philip Cooke, turned into sentenced to 18 months in prison for his component in 2021, while Jim Baugh, eBay's former senior director of protection and protection, turned into sentenced to nearly 5 years in 2022.

Baugh's lawyers stated he was compelled by using former eBay CEO Devin Wenig to address the Steiners, though the ex-Chief Executive denies any expertise of the marketing campaign and has now not been charged.

The Department of Justice has now announced that eBay has agreed to pay a $3 million criminal penalty for the harassment and intimidation campaign, the statutory most first-class for the six felony offenses it faced. The employer was charged with two counts of stalking through interstate journey, two counts of stalking thru digital communications offerings, one be counted of witness tampering, and one count number of obstruction of justice.

As part of the deferred prosecution agreement, eBay may be required to keep a company compliance monitor for three years. It need to also make great improvements to its compliance software. The organization writes that it takes responsibility for the misconduct of its former employees.

"The organization's behavior in 2019 turned into wrong and reprehensible," stated Jamie Iannone, Chief Executive Officer at eBay. "From the moment eBay first learned of the 2019 activities, eBay cooperated fully and considerably with law enforcement government. We continue to extend our private apologies to the Steiners for what they persevered. Since those activities came about, new leaders have joined the enterprise and eBay has reinforced its regulations, procedures, controls and schooling. EBay stays dedicated to upholding excessive requirements of conduct and ethics and to creating things right with the Steiners."