eBay to Pay $50M Settlement After Former Employees Sent Live Cockroaches and a Bloody Pig Mask to Silence Journalists

For years, David and Ina Steiner lived through a campaign of intimidation that few journalists ever expect to experience. Anonymous packages arrived at their home. Live cockroaches. Live spiders. A funeral wreath. A bloody pig Halloween mask. Pornographic magazines were sent to neighbours in an apparent attempt to embarrass them. Federal prosecutors later alleged there were also plans to install a GPS tracking device on their car.

Now, more than six years after the harassment campaign first came to light, eBay has agreed to pay nearly $50 million to settle a civil lawsuit brought by the Massachusetts couple, bringing the long-running litigation to an end.

Settlement Ends Six-Year Legal Dispute

The agreement resolves a lawsuit filed by David and Ina Steiner, founders of EcommerceBytes, a newsletter covering the e-commerce industry. Under the settlement announced on Tuesday, the Steiners will receive $48.7 million in compensation. That includes $46.15 million from eBay, $2 million from former chief executive Devin Wenig, $500,000 from former executive Wendy Jones, and $50,000 from former executive Steve Wymer.

The agreement also includes $7 million in charitable donations. eBay will contribute $6 million to various non-profit organisations, while Wenig will contribute $1 million to a charity supporting First Amendment rights in Ina Steiner's name. Christopher Murphy, the Steiners' lawyer at Scalli Murphy Law, said the resolution sends a warning that attempts by large businesses to suppress free speech and the press will not be tolerated.

Murphy also said protecting journalists and publishers, as well as deterring corporate misconduct, had been among the goals from the beginning of the case.

Journalists Alleged Campaign Was Meant to Silence Their Reporting

The Steiners sued eBay in 2021, alleging the company engaged in a conspiracy to intimidate, threaten, terrorise, and silence them because of their reporting on the e-commerce industry. According to the lawsuit, they were subjected to cyberstalking, death threats, and in-person surveillance by former eBay employees.

Federal prosecutors have said the harassment campaign included anonymous deliveries of live cockroaches, live spiders, a funeral wreath and a bloody pig face Halloween mask. Prosecutors also alleged that former employees sent pornographic magazines bearing David Steiner's name to a neighbour's home and planned to break into the couple's garage to install a GPS tracking device on their vehicle.

Settlement Allows Couple to Speak Publicly

Unlike many civil settlements, this agreement contains no confidentiality provision. That means David and Ina Steiner remain free to discuss the case publicly. Murphy said his clients insisted they should not be prevented from speaking about what happened to them.

He also said the absence of a confidentiality agreement was significant because, in his view, compensation should not come at the cost of preventing victims from discussing alleged wrongdoing.

eBay Repeats Public Apology

As part of the settlement, eBay will issue a public statement addressing the conduct of former executives connected to the case. In a statement released on Tuesday, the company said the treatment of the Steiners by former employees in 2019 was wrong, reprehensible, and should never have happened.

eBay also acknowledged what it described as the unprofessional tone of internal communications involving former chief executive Devin Wenig, former Chief Communications Officer Steve Wymer, and former Senior Vice President Wendy Jones. The company said the conduct was not representative of its culture and added that it has since changed its leadership and strengthened its policies, procedures, and ethics training.

Criminal Case Led to Convictions

The civil settlement follows criminal proceedings that began in 2020. Federal prosecutors charged seven former eBay employees with offences linked to the cyberstalking campaign after investigators alleged they coordinated the harassment in response to coverage published by EcommerceBytes.

Most of the defendants later pleaded guilty to charges including conspiracy and cyberstalking. They were sentenced to prison terms or home confinement. In 2024, eBay separately agreed to pay a $3 million criminal penalty under a deferred prosecution agreement with federal authorities.