Ebay Has to Pay $55.7 Million in Settlement for Its Unhinged Harassment Campaign
Ebay has agreed to pay $55.7 million in a settlement to the founders of EcommerceBytes, a Massachusetts-based news site that covers ecommerce, after a harassment campaign led by eBay executives and contractors against the couple.
Intelligence analysis by Llama
Ebay has agreed to pay $55.7 million in a settlement to the founders of EcommerceBytes, a Massachusetts-based news site that covers ecommerce, after a harassment campaign led by eBay executives and contractors against the couple. The campaign included doxing, threats, and deliveries of live pests.
Imagine someone sending you creepy messages and gifts to scare you. That's what happened to the founders of a news site that wrote about eBay. eBay's leaders even told their employees to 'take her down.' The company is now paying $55.7 million to make it right.
Analysis
A Harassment Campaign Unfolds
The harassment campaign led by eBay executives and contractors against the founders of EcommerceBytes began in the summer of 2019. It started with anonymous, threatening Twitter DMs to the Steiners, then quickly escalated to deliveries to the couple's home. These deliveries included a bloody pig mask, pornography, a package of fly larvae and live spiders, and another package containing live cockroaches. Other deliveries were themed around death, including a copy of a book on grieving a spouse and a funeral wreath from a local florist. All throughout, the anonymous Twitter account continued to send harassing messages.
The Culture of Harassment
The harassment campaign was not an isolated incident. It was part of a larger culture of harassment and intimidation within eBay. The company's former CEO, Devin Wenig, allegedly gave the initial order to 'take her down,' referring to Ina Steiner, to former eBay chief communications officer Steve Wymer. This culture of harassment was allowed to flourish because of a lack of accountability and oversight within the company.
A New Era for eBay
The settlement and apology from eBay mark a new era for the company. The company has acknowledged that the harassment campaign was unacceptable and has condemned the actions of the former employees who were involved. The company has also taken steps to improve its culture and prevent similar incidents from happening in the future. However, the question remains whether these steps are enough to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.
Key points
- Ebay has agreed to pay $55.7 million in a settlement to the founders of EcommerceBytes, a Massachusetts-based news site that covers ecommerce, after a harassment campaign led by eBay executives and contractors against the couple.
- The harassment campaign included doxing, threats, and deliveries of live pests.
- The company's former CEO, Devin Wenig, allegedly gave the initial order to 'take her down,' referring to Ina Steiner, to former eBay chief communications officer Steve Wymer.
- The settlement and apology from eBay mark a new era for the company, and the company's new leadership has taken steps to improve its culture and prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.
The settlement and apology from eBay mark a new era for the company, and the company's new leadership has taken steps to improve its culture and prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.
The fact that a harassment campaign led by eBay executives and contractors was allowed to flourish within the company is a disturbing reminder of the need for greater accountability and oversight within the tech industry.
