The federal government is making eBay pay a big price for retaliation by its employees against a Massachusetts couple.
The Justice Department charged eBay with stalking, witness tampering and obstruction of justice after the online auction’s employees tried to intimidate David and Ina Sterner over three years ago.
The couple had produced an online newsletter EcommerceBytes, that upset eBay executives. The federal government said the employees sent live spiders, cockroaches and other items to the Sterners with the intent of intimidating the couple to change their newsletter’s reporting.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts said the employees also traveled to the couple’s town “to surveil the victims and install a GPS tracking device on their car,” as well as placing Craigslist posts inviting people to the couple’s home for sexual encounters.
The employees who took part in the harassment have already been convicted and “the ringleader was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts said in a news release.
The DOJ said that eBay has agreed to pay a $3 million fine, the maximum allowed for the six felonies the company faced as part of the deferred prosecution agreement.
The company will also have to hire an independent corporate compliance monitor for three years and enhance its compliance program.
The DOJ said a corporate culture at eBay led to the stalking campaign against the Sterners.
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