eBay agrees to nearly $56 million settlement in harassment lawsuit

eBay and three former top executives agreed to pay about $55.7 million to settle a lawsuit brought by David and Ina Steiner, the Massachusetts couple who alleged a “systematic campaign to emotionally and psychologically torture” them “in order to stifle their reporting on eBay.” The payout is one of the clearest dollar figures yet attached to a case that turned allegations of intimidation into a rare corporate penalty.

The Steiners, Natick residents who published the e-commerce newsletter EcommerceBytes, said the harassment campaign followed their coverage of the company. Prosecutors later described the conduct as a 2019 cyberstalking effort carried out by former eBay employees. The tactics included disturbing deliveries to the couple’s home, including cockroaches and a bloody pig mask.

The Justice Department had already forced a criminal reckoning. In January 2024, it said eBay would pay a $3 million criminal penalty to resolve charges of stalking, witness tampering and obstruction of justice tied to the campaign. Six former eBay employees were charged in that case, and one later defendant was sentenced.

The civil settlement includes $46.15 million for the Steiners and $6 million in charitable contributions to nonprofit organizations, with the remainder set aside for legal and other settlement-related costs. Former chief executive Devin Wenig was among the executives named in the suit, which also put a spotlight on how far corporate responsibility extends when employee misconduct is aimed at critics outside the company.

The case reached the brink of trial after settlement talks collapsed in June, before the parties ultimately struck the new deal. For eBay, the combination of criminal penalties and civil damages creates a measurable cost for conduct linked to retaliation against journalists, and it leaves a public record of what happens when a powerful company’s response to criticism crosses into harassment.