EBay and three former top executives agreed to pay a landmark $55.7 million civil settlement to David and Ina Steiner, a Massachusetts couple who were the victims of a bizarre and terrifying corporate cyberstalking campaign.
The harassment began in August 2019 after high-level executives at eBay became infuriated by critical coverage of the e-commerce giant published in the Steiners' online trade newsletter, EcommerceBytes.
In retaliation, James Baugh and six members of the security launched an intense online and in-person scare campaign.
The group anonymously mailed packages to the couple's home containing live cockroaches, fly larvae, live spiders, a funeral wreath, a fetal pig, and a bloody Halloween pig mask. They also sent a book titled Surviving Loss of a Spouse.
The conspirators sent pornographic magazines addressed to David Steiner but intentionally delivered them to their neighbors. They also created fraudulent Craigslist posts listing the couple's home as an open nightly destination for "singles, couples, and swingers".
EBay employees traveled to the couple's town of Natick, Massachusetts, physically stalked them in a rental van, and even attempted to install a GPS tracking device on their vehicle.
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