this post was submitted on 12 Jan 2024
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Technology

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eBay agreed to pay maximal possible fine of $3 million after employees harassed, intimidated, and stalked a Massachusetts couple in retaliation for their critical reporting of the online marketplace (arstechnica.com)
submitted 9 months ago by 0x815@feddit.de to c/technology@beehaw.org
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eBay's harassment campaign against the couple, David and Ina Steiner, stretched for 18 days in August 2019 and was led by the company's former senior director of safety and security, Jim Baugh. It started when then-CEO Devin Wenig and then-chief communications officer Steven Wymer decided to "take down" the Steiners after growing frustrated with their coverage of eBay in a newsletter called EcommerceBytes.

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[–] deegeese@sopuli.xyz 35 points 9 months ago (1 children)

If the defendant agreed to the maximum penalty, that tells you they’re being let off easy.

Criminal acts by companies should include fines large enough to make the shareholders mad, or else there was no real punishment.

[–] frog@beehaw.org 15 points 9 months ago

Criminal acts by companies should include fines large enough to make the shareholders mad, or else there was no real punishment.

All of their profits earned for each day when the harassment occurred sounds like a reasonably large fine. I don't know how much profit eBay made in the 18 days their employees harassed these people, but I bet it was a lot more than $3 million.