eBay employees will go to jail for harassing customers who criticized the company.
eBay will pay a $3 million fine to settle criminal charges that the company's security team harassed a Massachusetts couple for criticizing the platform on its website.
Under the deferred prosecution agreement, eBay accepts responsibility for the actions of six of its former employees and a contractor, each of whom previously pleaded guilty to physically harassing and cyber-stalking Ina and David Steiner.
In 1999, the Steiners co-founded EcommerceBytes, an information portal that reports and scrutinizes e-commerce companies, including eBay. Some eBay executives were unhappy with this coverage and decided to put pressure on the Stein family to stifle criticism.
Subsequently, the US Department of Justice sued eBay:
In addition to paying the $3 million fine, which is the legal maximum penalty for 6 criminal offenses, eBay will also be required to maintain an independent corporate compliance monitor for 3 years and make improvements to its compliance program. Meanwhile, the Steiners are privately suing eBay for damages, and the process is still ongoing.
Since August 2019, the former chief security officer of eBay, and 6 of his colleagues have been harassing the Stein's for their coverage of eBay. 7 employees repeatedly wrote threatening messages to the Stein family at X*, delivered various intimidating items to the Steiner home, and physically observed the couple.
Items sent to the Stein's included:
According to the prosecutor's office, former eBay employees also traveled to Natick, Massachusetts, to observe their victims, installed a GPS tracking device on their car, and also posted an ad on the Internet about finding sexual partners and indicated the Steiner home address.
After the Steiners called the police, the chief executive gave false statements to the police and investigators. He and his team also removed digital evidence related to the cyber-harassment campaign and falsified records.
Six eBay employees, along with their supervisor, were convicted of participating in crimes:
eBay CEO Jamie Iannone (since 2020) noted that the company's behavior in 2019 was wrong and reprehensible. From the moment eBay first learned about the events of 2019, the company actively cooperated with law enforcement agencies. Iannone stressed that eBay continues to offer its "deepest apologies" to the Stein family for what they went through.
eBay will pay a $3 million fine to settle criminal charges that the company's security team harassed a Massachusetts couple for criticizing the platform on its website.
Under the deferred prosecution agreement, eBay accepts responsibility for the actions of six of its former employees and a contractor, each of whom previously pleaded guilty to physically harassing and cyber-stalking Ina and David Steiner.
In 1999, the Steiners co-founded EcommerceBytes, an information portal that reports and scrutinizes e-commerce companies, including eBay. Some eBay executives were unhappy with this coverage and decided to put pressure on the Stein family to stifle criticism.
Subsequently, the US Department of Justice sued eBay:
- 2 counts of state border stalking;
- 2 counts of harassment through electronic communications services;
- 1 count of witness bribery;
- 1 count of obstruction of justice.
In addition to paying the $3 million fine, which is the legal maximum penalty for 6 criminal offenses, eBay will also be required to maintain an independent corporate compliance monitor for 3 years and make improvements to its compliance program. Meanwhile, the Steiners are privately suing eBay for damages, and the process is still ongoing.
Since August 2019, the former chief security officer of eBay, and 6 of his colleagues have been harassing the Stein's for their coverage of eBay. 7 employees repeatedly wrote threatening messages to the Stein family at X*, delivered various intimidating items to the Steiner home, and physically observed the couple.
Items sent to the Stein's included:
- a book about how to survive the death of your spouse;
- porn subscriptions;
- bloody pig mask;
- piglet embryo;
- funeral wreath;
- live spiders and cockroaches.
According to the prosecutor's office, former eBay employees also traveled to Natick, Massachusetts, to observe their victims, installed a GPS tracking device on their car, and also posted an ad on the Internet about finding sexual partners and indicated the Steiner home address.
After the Steiners called the police, the chief executive gave false statements to the police and investigators. He and his team also removed digital evidence related to the cyber-harassment campaign and falsified records.
Six eBay employees, along with their supervisor, were convicted of participating in crimes:
- the director received 4 years and 9 months in prison;
- employee one was sentenced to 2 years in prison;
- Employee two received a 1-year prison sentence;
- Employee three received 1.5 years in prison and 1 year of house arrest;
- another 2 employees received 1 year of house arrest each;
- A sixth employee is awaiting sentencing.
eBay CEO Jamie Iannone (since 2020) noted that the company's behavior in 2019 was wrong and reprehensible. From the moment eBay first learned about the events of 2019, the company actively cooperated with law enforcement agencies. Iannone stressed that eBay continues to offer its "deepest apologies" to the Stein family for what they went through.
