eBay’s $3M Settlement
eBay Inc. EBAY has agreed to pay a $3 million criminal penalty to settle charges of a harassment campaign against two bloggers who were critical of the e-commerce giant. The campaign involved threatening messages, disturbing deliveries, and surveillance.
eBay admitted to charges and facts presented by federal prosecutors in a deferred prosecution agreement, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. The company was charged with stalking through interstate travel and electronic communication services, witness tampering, and obstruction of justice.
Details of the Harassment Campaign
The harassment campaign, aimed at silencing the bloggers’ reporting and protecting the eBay brand, was led by former eBay senior director of safety and security James Baugh and a team of other staffers and contractors in 2019. David and Ina Steiner, who run an e-commerce blog called EcommerceBytes, were the targets. The campaign began with threatening messages and tweets and quickly escalated to sending the bloggers a bloody pig mask, live roaches, and a fetal pig. Fake Craigslist posts were created, inviting people to the bloggers’ homes.
When questioned by law-enforcement officials, Baugh allegedly made false statements, and his team deleted digital evidence and falsified records to deceive investigators. The company subsequently fired everyone involved in the campaign in September 2019.
Significance of the Settlement
In reaction, eBay’s current CEO, Jamie Iannone, stated that the company’s conduct was reprehensible and issued an apology to the bloggers. Iannone also highlighted that eBay has since made significant changes to its policies, procedures, controls, and training. Following the settlement, eBay has agreed to continue cooperating with federal prosecutors and will be under the supervision of an independent compliance monitor. The U.S. attorney’s office has agreed to dismiss the charges against eBay if the company successfully meets its obligations under the deferred prosecution agreement for three years.
This development comes amidst a significant shift in analyst sentiment towards eBay. Across the recent three months, six analysts shared their insights on eBay, with opinions ranging from bullish to bearish. The average 12-month price target for eBay has decreased by 6.19% from the previous average price target.
