Online giant faces stinging consequences as arachnids and roaches spark $3 million penalty
In a spine-chilling saga of cyberbullying, eBay has been slapped with a jaw-dropping $3 million payout after its staff orchestrated a nightmarish ‘campaign’ against a Massachusetts couple, David and Ina Steiner.
The unnerving plot unfolded back in 2019 when the Steiners, proprietors of the EcommerceBytes platform, found themselves entangled in an ‘online intimidation campaign’. The nightmare commenced with taunts from a Twitter account masquerading as an eBay seller, escalating into a series of sinister deliveries, including live spiders and cockroaches.
Seven eBay employees faced criminal charges for their part in the torment, with the ringleader enduring the longest sentence of 57 months in a federal prison, as confirmed by the Justice Department.
The vendetta surfaced following Ina’s exposé on eBay suing Amazon for client poaching. Court records revealed a message from eBay’s former CEO, Devin Wenig, instructing another executive to act against Ina: “If you are ever going to take her down… now is the time.”
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Steiners, besieged by grotesque packages, received not only live insects and arachnids but also a surreal assortment of items, including a book titled ‘Grief Diaries: Surviving Loss of a Spouse,’ a fetal pig, a pig Halloween mask, and even a funeral wreath.
In a shocking turn of events, the Department of Justice determined eBay’s complicity in the harassment. Acting Massachusetts US Attorney, Joshua S. Levy, expressed disdain, stating, “eBay engaged in absolutely horrific, criminal conduct. The company’s employees put the victims through pure hell, in a petrifying campaign aimed at silencing their reporting and protecting the eBay brand.”
Responding to the ruling, the Steiners, in a defiant blog post, declared their commitment to upholding their First Amendment rights. eBay’s current CEO, Jamie Iannone, issued an apology, acknowledging the reprehensible conduct in 2019. Iannone assured that eBay has since strengthened its policies and procedures.
