By LEAH WILLINGHAM, Associated Press
BOSTON (AP) — A Massachusetts couple who were subjected to threats and bizarre anonymous deliveries — including live insects, a funeral wreath and a bloody pig Halloween mask — by former eBay employees reached a settlement Wednesday in their lawsuit against the company.
In their 2021 lawsuit filed in Boston federal court, David and Ina Steiner said that the company engaged in a conspiracy to “intimidate, threaten to kill, torture, terrorize, stalk and silence them” in order to “stifle their reporting on eBay.” The Natick residents, who run EcommerceBytes, an online newsletter focused on the e-commerce industry, said they were subjected to cyberstalking, death threats and in-person surveillance by former eBay workers.
The terms of the settlement were not disclosed. Boston U.S. District Judge Patti Saris dismissed the case Wednesday after the parties settled, though the order allows either side to reopen it within 60 days if the agreement is not finalized.
An eBay spokesperson referred to the order for comment and said the company had nothing further to add.
When the suit was filed, the company said “the misconduct of these former employees was wrong,” and that it would “do what is fair and appropriate to try to address what the Steiners went through.”
In 2020, federal prosecutors charged seven former eBay employees, alleging they carried out a coordinated harassment campaign against the couple after becoming angered by coverage in the couple’s online newsletter. Most of the defendants pleaded guilty to charges including conspiracy and cyberstalking and were later sentenced to prison terms or home confinement.
In 2024, eBay Inc. agreed to pay a $3 million criminal penalty under a deferred prosecution agreement with federal authorities.
Federal prosecutors have said the harassment included anonymous deliveries of items like live cockroaches and spiders, a funeral wreath, and a bloody pig face mask to the couple’s home. The employees also sent pornographic magazines with the husband’s name on them to a neighbor’s home and planned to break into the couple’s garage to install a GPS device on their car.
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