eBay and three former executives have agreed to pay $55.7 million to settle a civil lawsuit filed by a Massachusetts couple who endured a bizarre and coordinated harassment campaign designed to silence their critical reporting of the company.
David and Ina Steiner, who publish EcommerceBytes, an online newsletter covering the e-commerce industry, announced the settlement late Monday, ending a case they filed in federal court in Boston in 2021. The settlement concludes more than six years of legal proceedings stemming from a 2019 cyberstalking campaign that shocked corporate America with its brazenness and scope.
Between 2018 and 2019, eBay employees orchestrated an intimidation campaign against the couple after executives became angered by the Steiners’ coverage of the company. The campaign began when then-CEO Devin Wenig complained about critical articles published on EcommerceBytes and instructed subordinates to stop the couple’s reporting. What followed was a systematic assault that included sending cockroaches, live spiders, and fly larvae to the couple’s home, along with a bloody pig mask for Halloween and a funeral wreath.
But the harassment extended far beyond these disturbing deliveries. Employees created fake Twitter accounts and sent threatening private messages to Ina Steiner, demanding she stop reporting on eBay. They posted the couple’s home address online and staged fake Craigslist postings advertising their residence as available for sexual encounters. Pornographic magazines addressed to David Steiner were sent to neighbors’ homes. Employees even planned to break into the couple’s garage to install a GPS device on their car.
According to court documents, the campaign was orchestrated with considerable resources and at senior levels of the company. James Baugh, eBay’s former senior director of safety and security, led the effort. Seven former eBay employees ultimately pleaded guilty to criminal charges including cyberstalking and conspiracy. Baugh received a 57-month federal prison sentence, making him the primary architect of what prosecutors called an effort to “emotionally, psychologically, and physically terrorize” the publishers to protect the company’s brand.
The settlement includes $48.7 million in direct compensation to the Steiners. eBay will pay $46.15 million of that total, while Wenig contributes $2 million, former executive Wendy Jones contributes $500,000, and former executive Steve Wymer contributes $50,000. Additionally, eBay will provide $6 million in charitable contributions to nonprofit organizations, and Wenig will donate an additional $1 million to a charity dedicated to protecting First Amendment rights in Ina Steiner’s name.
A particularly striking element of the settlement is that it contains no confidentiality restrictions. The Steiners can continue to publicly discuss the facts of the case and the evidence uncovered during litigation, a provision that underscores the severity of the conduct and the couple’s determination that the public understand what transpired.
Speaking about the settlement, attorney Christopher Murphy said, “We believe this resolution sends a clear message that corporations and their executives cannot engage in this type of misconduct without facing significant consequences.”
The Steiners had been seeking nearly $700 million in combined compensatory and punitive damages, making the final settlement substantially less than their initial demand but nonetheless significant. The couple said in a statement that they were “targeted because we gave eBay sellers a voice and because we reported facts that top executives didn’t like publicly laid bare.”
Wenig, who stepped down as eBay’s CEO in September 2019, stated, “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. This behavior is antithetical to everything I stand for and believe in.” Wenig has consistently maintained he did not know the specific details of the harassment campaign, though internal communications revealed during legal proceedings showed him sending messages to subordinates such as “take her down” in reference to Ina Steiner.
eBay itself faced criminal charges and agreed in 2024 to pay a $3 million criminal penalty—the maximum available fine—under a deferred prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice. The company issued a statement with the settlement saying, “As we have long stated, what the Steiners were subjected to by former eBay employees in 2019 was wrong, reprehensible and should never have happened.”
The Steiners’ case has become emblematic of corporate attempts to suppress critical journalism and the risks posed to independent reporters. In court, David Steiner warned that the harassment should not become “a blueprint for how corporations respond to critical reporting” and expressed concern that other companies might attempt similar tactics against journalists in the future. The comprehensive settlement and public nature of the resolution appear designed, in part, to deter such conduct going forward.