[00:01] this massive stalking and harassment case that eBay just lost and got biblically spanked on. Now they have to settle to the tune of about $56 million to the victims, an elderly couple, and also some of that going to charity.
[00:17] I can't believe this is real. So like it all stems from this couple having a newsletter where they were occasionally pretty harsh on eBay. They weren't the biggest fans. They'd say, "Boo eBay, stinky." That kind of thing.
[00:32] And eBay was so offended, so upset that some of the higher-ups at eBay, seven to be exact, made it a personal mission to terrorize this couple through a coordinated effort of stalking and harassment, sending them like really
[00:46] weird things about like surviving the death of a spouse, like these veiled threats, as well as even trying to ship a pig fetus to them. And they even had plans in motion to go to their house physically and plant GPS tracking
[01:01] devices on their vehicles to follow them at all times. Again, all of this just stemming from them criticizing eBay occasionally on their site. And now these psychopaths are going in Thanos-style scorched earth trying to
[01:17] terrorize them. I I wouldn't be surprised if they also had plans like T-virus in their household to punish them for daring besmirch the good name >> This morning, eBay has agreed to pay nearly $56 million to a Massachusetts
[01:33] couple after several former eBay employees targeted and harassed them with bizarre and gruesome deliveries. >> So much anguish, so much conflict. >> This bloody pig Halloween mask was just one of the items that Ina and David
[01:46] Steiner received at their home along with a funeral wreath and live cockroaches and spiders. >> We don't think that anybody should be stalked and harassed. >> Yeah, you know what? I can get behind
[01:58] that take right there. I'll pump my fist to that. I agree. This is unhinged. Like like I cannot believe they even saw their their site where there was even criticism on eBay. Like they must have
[02:13] went out of their way to find that and then started steaming and plotting this. ago. It's like 7 years that they've been like in this case like battling this. This happened back starting in like 2019. Like
[02:28] eBay was a multi-billion dollar company then and it is now and somehow these former employees now saw this and just went hog wild, like ballistic
[02:40] about it. Like are you telling me like that's like some companies normally see these kind of things? Is there a chance if I leave Pinkertons on me, like they're going to come case my house or some for it?
[02:53] come case my house or some for it? It's just so weird. I I really cannot believe how far they went all just because they were criticizing eBay in their newsletter. >> because they are
[03:06] speaking out online. >> The Steiners run an online newsletter that was often critical of eBay. Back in 2020, seven eBay employees were charged plan to hide a GPS tracker on the Steiners car. Most of the defendants
[03:20] prison. >> It was difficult and it was painful. >> It's actually kind of refreshing to see just how hard they went on these eBay ghouls that orchestrated this stalking and harassment campaign. Like they
[03:34] brought out the giant fist here. So this is from 2024 when the final one got their sentencing, Brian Gilbert. So he got time served and 1 year supervised released, but Jim Baugh, Baugh God, this worm
[03:49] was formerly the senior director of safety and security, he received a prison sentence. So, he's going to spend roughly 5 years in jail for this in the slammer. Their senior safety and security guy, by the way, happens to be
[04:04] one of the most dangerous members of this group here, the Goof Troop here. Every villain is lemons. So, he got the longest sentence by far, but others also received prison time as well, such as David Harville, former
[04:18] director of global resiliency. I guess he wasn't very resilient himself. He couldn't handle some less than savory words about the company he works at. That guy couldn't rebound from that. Instead, he just devolved into
[04:32] goblin mode here and will be serving 24 months in well, served 24 months in prison. Stephanie Popp, former senior manager of global intelligence, well, like lack of intelligence for this garbage, 12 months in prison.
[04:47] Philip Cook, former senior manager of security operations, 18 months in prison Stephanie Stockwell, former manager of intelligence squad here, didn't bring their best. eBay was definitely lacking
[05:02] in that department there. They had the single-digit IQ squad showing up for work there. They had two members was sentenced to 1 year home confinement. And Veronica Zea, a contract intelligence analyst, sentenced to 1
[05:16] year home confinement. These are pretty high-up positions at the company. So, it's not just like random nobodies that did this. These were people in positions of power within this organization, which is why it's become such a big deal, I
[05:31] imagine, because it's not like you just had some loose cannon go rogue. You had a coordinated effort from like top-level people in their departments. And no doubt, they were also recruiting others within the company to help do
[05:44] their dirty work. I I think it was just them. I imagine they also had some other grunts running uh the you know the small stuff to and continue stalking and harassing these diners. It's just it's craziness.
[05:58] apologized saying it was wrong, reprehensible, and should never have happened. The company adding it's now strengthened its policies, procedures, controls, and training consistent with the company's ongoing commitment to
[06:11] ethics. >> It's changed who we are, but I think we'll see more normal days ahead. >> So, eBay squeaked out an apology here for all of this happening talking about how reprehensible it was, which it is no
[06:26] doubt, and then like the improved training that the employees are going to go through here like some Men in Black type I mean I don't think training would have stopped this. Like it's not like they
[06:39] didn't know they couldn't do this. Like these are serious crimes. I mean I guess during boot camp at eBay where you're like the the the number one thing you can't do is stalk and harass. All right. Don't do it.
[06:51] also just doesn't need to be said. It's not like they though this was like a completely normal thing to be doing. Obviously, they they knew that. They just didn't care. For some reason they
[07:05] just hated this couple for them talking about eBay in a less than kind manner. So, decided to just throw caution to the wind, go off book here, and just break bad, which is some top tier cookery here to go this hard for a
[07:21] just work at that you're willing to put your freedom on the line to defend the honor of is I can't I can't even fathom that thought process cuz I bet everyone here in this group, this syndicate, the the you know,
[07:38] eBay Illuminati here. I I every single one of them wouldn't care this much if it was their spouse being insulted. Like I bet if you would walked up and spit on their spouse they wouldn't have cared this much to go this hard against you.
[07:51] that they're at, they decided that they were willing to risk it all just to punish someone for speaking negatively about eBay. weird. So weird to me. So here's the settlement in
[08:04] its totality. It's a $46.1 million payment from eBay, $2 million from payment from eBay, $2 million from Weenie, 500k from eBay's former senior vice president of operations, and 50k from eBay's former chief communications
[08:18] officer. The company and Weenie also agreed to donate to various nonprofits. So the Steiners are getting a pretty penny from this. As they should. I think they are more than entitled to this kind of settlement from a corporation like
[08:32] through. And now you're probably asking yourself who is Weenie? Well, Weenie happens to be the former CEO, Devin Wenig. Communications revealed in a 2024 criminal complaint brought by federal
[08:47] prosecutors showed senior eBay executives exchanging messages about Ina Steiner, including one from Devin himself, the big weiner, saying to take her down. So it looked like he was even aware of
[09:02] this and didn't just turn a blind eye, even seemingly encouraged it. So he ended up getting on the hook here. He didn't face like um like a direct lawsuit per se, but he was
[09:16] ordered to also pay out from the settlement. But according to him with his statement to the Boston Globe, the harassment was deliberately done in secret without his knowledge, which is odd because in that 2024 complaint
[09:32] he apparently was referencing Steiner with other executives saying "Take her Doesn't seem like it was really done in secret without your knowledge. It seems like you were aware of it and kind of even on board with it is the impression
[09:47] I get from that statement. That's a little peculiar. I I don't think you were being totally honest there, Mr. Wenig. But, he maintains that that take her down isn't what you think it is. According to evidence from prosecutors,
[10:00] Wenig told his Wenig's kind of cool, too. I'm just right. him, it's not even worth it. Told his communications chief to take her down, which he continues to assert referred to a common PR takedown, while
[10:14] the comms executive told eBay former security team lead to do whatever it takes to silence her. Very messy, very sloppy stuff going on Very messy, very sloppy stuff going on here at eBay. Like again, this is a pair
[10:27] of journalists here, a couple that are being targeted by like high-ranking members of eBay like on a personal level to the point where they were actually going to go put a GPS tracking device on their vehicles just because they spoke
[10:42] negatively about eBay online. That's unhinged, man. That's Anyway, I'm happy that the Steiners will be getting a huge payday from this or at least seemingly will be getting a huge payday from this. Uh they absolutely
[10:58] through here. I still just can't believe this is real. I I I am actually still stunned. So, yeah, I had to yap about it. That's really about it. See you.