eBay to Shell Out Almost $50M to Couple Sent Cockroaches, Bloody Pig Mask
eBay Ex-Employees Sent Cockroaches, Threats to Couple
Published
A Massachusetts couple is getting a hefty payout after ex-eBay employees allegedly sent them cockroaches, a bloody pig mask, and a funeral wreath.
The online marketplace has agreed to shell out $46 Million, and and additional $6 Million in charitable donations, to Boston couple David and Ina Steiner who say they were cyberstalked and harassed by the company's former employees back in 2019 ... according to settlement details posted on the couple's website EcommerceBytes.
That spring, Ina had been writing articles for their site that had pissed off eBay execs ... to the point that chief executive Devin Wenig allegedly told his communications chief, "Take her down," according to the New York Times.
The Times says the communications chief passed the order along to eBay's security team ... and that's when the scary deliveries and anonymous threats started.
Things got so bad that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts ultimately charged 7 people on eBay's payroll -- who each pleaded guilty -- and the company was also slapped with a $3 Million fine to the government.
On Monday, the Steiners' law firm announced the civil settlement had been reached and eBay shared a statement the following day.
The company wrote ... "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."
They say they "condemn" their ex-employees' actions and acknowledged Wenig and other execs used "unprofessional tone in internal communications."
The company continued ... "We continue to extend our deepest apologies to the Steiners. This agreement is consistent with our commitment to fairly compensate the Steiners and fulfills our efforts to make things right."
