eBay to Pay Nearly $50 Million in Settlement Over Harassment Campaign Against E-commerce Journalists

eBay Inc. has agreed to pay nearly $50 million to a Massachusetts couple, David and Ina Steiner, who were subjected to a prolonged and disturbing harassment campaign orchestrated by former employees of the e-commerce giant. The settlement, announced on Tuesday, resolves over six years of criminal and civil proceedings stemming from an alleged conspiracy to intimidate, threaten, and silence the Steiners. David and Ina Steiner are the founders of EcommerceBytes, a prominent newsletter that provides in-depth reporting and analysis on the e-commerce industry. In their 2021 lawsuit, filed in Boston federal court, the Steiners detailed how former eBay workers allegedly engaged in a systematic campaign of cyberstalking, death threats, and in-person surveillance. The objective, according to the lawsuit, was to "stifle their reporting on eBay." The alleged harassment included a series of bizarre and unsettling anonymous deliveries, reportedly featuring items such as live insects, a funeral wreath, and a bloody pig Halloween mask, designed to terrorize the couple. The settlement includes a significant component of $7 million designated for charitable donations. A portion of these funds will be directed to organizations that champion First Amendment rights, underscoring the perceived attack on free speech and the press. Attorney Christopher Murphy, representing the Steiners from Scalli Murphy Law, emphasized that the resolution serves as a clear warning to large corporations against attempting to suppress speech and the press. He characterized the campaign not only as a personal attack on the Steiners but also as a direct assault on the fundamental principles of free speech and freedom of the press. A key aspect of the agreement is the absence of a confidentiality provision, a stipulation insisted upon by the Steiners to ensure they can speak openly about their harrowing experience. Furthermore, the settlement mandates that eBay issue a public statement acknowledging the misconduct of the former executives involved in orchestrating the harassment. The legal battle has been protracted, with a tentative settlement initially reached in February of this year, but the parties were unable to finalize the agreement at that time. The Steiners subsequently petitioned a federal judge in June to reopen the case, leading to the comprehensive settlement announced this week. The couple resides in Natick, Massachusetts, and their newsletter's critical coverage of the e-commerce sector appears to have been the catalyst for the alleged retaliatory actions by former eBay personnel. The extensive legal proceedings have detailed a pattern of alleged malicious actions aimed at silencing independent and critical journalism within the e-commerce space.