Settlement includes $7 million in donations to First Amendment organizations
eBay Inc. has agreed to pay nearly $50 million to David and Ina Steiner, the founders of the e-commerce newsletter EcommerceBytes, to settle a lawsuit in which they said former employees of the company subjected them to a harassment campaign involving unwanted packages and threats, according to settlement details released Tuesday.
The unwanted packages sent to the Steiners, according to the settlement details, included live insects, a funeral wreath and a bloody pig Halloween mask. The Steiners operate EcommerceBytes, a publication covering the e-commerce industry.
The settlement also includes $7 million in charitable donations to organizations that support First Amendment rights. Christopher Murphy, the Steiners’ attorney, said the resolution sends “a warning that attempts by big business to suppress speech and the press will not be tolerated.”
The parties had reached a tentative settlement in February, as the case was headed to trial, but they were unable to finalize the agreement. The Steiners asked a federal judge in June to reopen the case. The new settlement, announced Tuesday, resolves the litigation.