eBay has settled with the couple it once tried to terrorize into silence. eBay’s own statement calls the underlying conduct “wrong, reprehensible.” The company doesn’t usually put that in writing.
The case traces to 2019, when eBay went after Ina and David Steiner, founders of the trade newsletter EcommerceBytes, after then-CEO Devin Wenig complained about the couple’s coverage. Seven eBay employees and contractors pled guilty to federal charges; former security exec James Baugh drew 57 months in the Justice Department’s 2020 case.
Wenig and then-communications chief Steve Wymer were never charged criminally, but the civil suit quotes Wymer directing the team to “STOP her,” and promising to “embrace managing any bad fallout.”
Corporate settlements almost always come wrapped in a confidentiality clause. This one bars eBay from imposing any, and it requires the company to publish a statement naming its own former executives’ “unprofessional tone.” I’ve read plenty of releases where “regret” does the work embarrassment should. This one names names. Expect plaintiffs’ counsel in the next harassment suit against a public company to cite this settlement as the new floor for what public accountability language should look like.
Rebecca Lauren