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In
their 2021 lawsuit filed in Boston federal court, David and Ina
Steiner said that the company engaged in a conspiracy to
“intimidate, threaten to kill, torture, terrorize, stalk and
silence them” in order to “stifle their reporting on eBay.” The
Natick residents, who run EcommerceBytes, an online newsletter
focused on the e-commerce industry, said they were subjected to
cyberstalking, death threats and in-person surveillance by
former eBay workers.
The terms of the settlement were not disclosed. Boston U.S.
District Judge Patti Saris dismissed the case Wednesday after
the parties settled, though the order allows either side to
reopen it within 60 days if the agreement is not finalized.
An eBay spokesperson referred to the order for comment and said
the company had nothing further to add.
When the suit was filed, the company said “the misconduct of
these former employees was wrong,” and that it would “do what is
fair and appropriate to try to address what the Steiners went
through.”
In 2020, federal prosecutors charged seven former eBay
employees, alleging they carried out a coordinated harassment
campaign against the couple after becoming angered by coverage
in the couple’s online newsletter. Most of the defendants
pleaded guilty to charges including conspiracy and cyberstalking
and were later sentenced to prison terms or home confinement.
In 2024, eBay Inc. agreed to pay a $3 million criminal penalty
under a deferred prosecution agreement with federal authorities.
Federal prosecutors have said the harassment included anonymous
deliveries of items like live cockroaches and spiders, a funeral
wreath, and a bloody pig face mask to the couple’s home. The
employees also sent pornographic magazines with the husband’s
name on them to a neighbor’s home and planned to break into the
couple’s garage to install a GPS device on their car.
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