2024-01-12 06:39:00
The Steiner couple attended the sentencing hearing of eBay executives who threatened them by sending them cockroaches and funeral artificial flowers in September 2022. /Archyde.com = Yonhap News
E-commerce company eBay has been slapped with a hefty fine for stalking a blogger who posted a critical post about the company, including sending a package containing cockroaches.
According to Archyde.com on the 11th (local time), the Massachusetts District Attorney’s Office agreed to a deferred prosecution of eBay, which was indicted on six charges, including stalking, obstruction of justice, and witness plagiarism, and paid the legal maximum fine of $3 million (approximately 3.95 billion won). He announced that he had decided to pay.
According to prosecutors, six eBay executives and employees, including former eBay safety and security executive Jim Baugh, harassed David Steiner and his wife, who publish a newsletter called “E-Commerce Bites,” in August 2019 because he had written negative content about the company.
At the time, the Steiners published a story in their newsletter about eBay filing a lawsuit against its rival Amazon, claiming that it had illegally stolen its sellers. Not long after the newsletter was published, Devin Winnie, then eBay’s chief executive, reportedly sent another CEO a message saying, ‘If you’re going to take her down, the time is now.’ When this message was delivered to executives and employees, including Jim Bau, the harassment began.
Executives and employees sent threatening messages to the Steiners, books on how to survive a spouse’s death, and funeral arrangements. In addition, they anonymously sent a package containing a bloody Halloween pig mask and live cockroaches, spiders, and other insects to threaten the couple. They also posted posts on websites inviting people to have sexual encounters at their homes.
Some employees even tried to put a GPS tracking device on the Steiners’ vehicle. This behavior was uncovered when the victims discovered the eBay surveillance team. The authorities’ investigation began when the victims reported to the police that they had been “emotionally, psychologically, and physically terrorized for publishing critical news about eBay.”
Prosecutors indicted six eBay executives and employees involved in the crime in 2020, and they were sentenced to 2 to 5 years in prison at a trial in 2022. However, former CEO Devin Winnig was not charged, claiming, “He had no knowledge of the mass harassment and he never instructed anyone to do anything illegal.”
In a statement released on this day, eBay CEO Jamie Iannon said, “The company’s actions in 2019 were wrong and reprehensible,” and added, “We offer our deepest apologies for the pain the Steiner family has experienced.” He continued, “Since the incident occurred, new leaders have joined the company, and eBay has strengthened policies, procedures, controls, and training.”
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