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NATICK, Massachusetts (WBZ) — eBay has agreed to pay $55.7 million in a settlement with a Massachusetts couple that was the victim of a bizarre harassment and cyberstalking campaign orchestrated by former employees of the company.
Ina and David Steiner, who run the trade publication ECommerceBytes from their home in Natick, started receiving online threats and upsetting deliveries to their home in 2019, including a bloody pig mask, live spiders and a book on surviving the death of a spouse. Pornographic magazines addressed to David Steiner were purposefully sent to their neighbors, and their home was listed on Craigslist as a nightly destination for “singles, couples and swingers.”
Law enforcement was able to trace a rental van that followed David Steiner one day back to an eBay employee, and in 2020, the Department of Justice charged seven eBay executives and employees with cyberstalking. Some executives even went to prison for their role in the scheme.
Federal prosecutors say leaders at the company were enraged by the couple’s newsletter and critical comments from readers who posted on their website.
“Take her down,” former CEO Devin Wenig texted.
“I want to see ashes. As long as it takes. Whatever it takes,” former chief communications officer Steve Wymer wrote.
The Steiners told “60 Minutes” that they started sleeping in separate rooms so that if someone broke in at night, at least one of them could call police or escape.
“It felt like corporate terrorism because we were terrorized. And it was very calculated. It was very vicious,” Ina Steiner said.
The couple will receive $48.7 million in the settlement, including $2 million from Wenig. eBay will give $6 million to various charities, and Wenig will also donate $1 million to a charity protecting First Amendment rights in Ina Steiner’s name.
eBay, which paid a $3 million criminal penalty in the case in 2024, said in a statement on Tuesday that “we continue to extend our deepest apologies to the Steiners.”
“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,” eBay said. “We condemn, in the strongest terms possible, the employees who perpetrated and pled guilty to criminal charges for the misconduct against Ina and David Steiner.”
Wenig, who has said his “take her down” text referred to a communications strategy, also issued a statement.
“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,” Wenig said. “The harassment was deliberately done in secret and without my knowledge, as established by an independent law firm review, a federal probe, and the sworn testimony of the security employee convicted as the ‘ringleader.'”
Christopher Murphy, the attorney for the Steiners, said in a statement that “this case was always about more than obtaining financial recovery.”
“From the beginning, our clients wanted to uncover the truth, protect journalists and publishers, hold those responsible accountable, deter future corporate misconduct, and help ensure others would never have to endure what they experienced,” 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.”
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