The Steiner couple attended the sentencing hearing of eBay executives who threatened them by sending cockroaches and artificial funeral flowers in September 2022. /Reuters = Yonhap News
E-commerce company eBay has been fined heavily for persecuting a blogger who posted critical of the company, including sending a package containing cockroaches.
According to Reuters, on the 11th (local time), the Massachusetts district attorney’s office agreed to postpone the prosecution of eBay, which was indicted on six charges, including stalking, obstruction of justice and witness plagiarism , and paid the maximum legal fine of $3. million (about 3.95 billion won) and 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 the August 2019 because he had written negative content about the company.
At the time, the Steiners published an article in their newsletter that eBay had filed a lawsuit against its rival Amazon, claiming it had illegally ripped off its sellers. Shortly after the newsletter was published, Devin Winnig, then CEO of eBay, allegedly texted another CEO saying, “If you’re going to take this down, now is the time.” When this message was delivered to managers and employees, including Jim Bau, the harassment began.
Managers and employees sent the Steiners threatening messages, books on how to survive the death of a spouse, and funeral arrangements. Additionally, 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 on advertising websites inviting people to have sexual encounters in their homes.
Some employees also tried to put a GPS tracking device on the Steiners’ vehicle. This behavior was discovered when the victims discovered eBay’s surveillance team. The authorities’ investigation began when the victims told police they had been “emotionally, psychologically and physically terrorized for posting critical news on eBay.”
Prosecutors indicted six eBay executives and employees involved in the crime in 2020 and were sentenced to 2 to 5 years in prison at a trial in 2022. However, former CEO Devin Winnig was not indicted, stating: “I do not I was aware of the mass harassment and never instructed anyone to do anything illegal.”
In a statement released today, 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.”
2024-01-12 06:39:00
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