4 ms·

Natick couple refiles lawsuit vs. eBay, saying they were terrorized and tortured

31 points by apress 4y ago

abracadaniel 4y ago
The bizarre plot was ignited by complaints from eBay’s top management about the Steiner’s coverage of the company and included sending the couple threatening Twitter messages, live spiders, and a funeral wreath, as well as following them around town and trying to install a tracking device on their car in August 2019. Jim Baugh, eBay’s former head of security who orchestrated the plot and traveled to Natick to surveil the couple, received the stiffest sentence of nearly five years in prison. What the hell is going on at eBay?
- xkcd-sucks 4y ago
  Boatloads of cocaine or maybe just > Baugh apologized for his actions and said he was “completely out of control” due to alcohol abuse. based on how clownish and counterproductive the harassment was -- Like ebay could have buried them under endless meritless lawsuits, or buried them literally through illegal direct action, but certainly not after being on record sending them spiders and funeral wreaths
- tstrimple 4y ago
  Oh man security work is way more interesting than I thought.
- sieabahlpark 4y ago
  [dead]
anxman 4y ago
This will end with a huge settlement. Ebay did wrong by targeting their most loyal merchants with a criminal campaign.
- dangerboysteve 4y ago
  Well, Ebay set aside $69M so that's a starting point.
D-Coder 4y ago
"The revised lawsuit added Wendy Jones, eBay’s former senior vice president of operations and Baugh’s direct supervisor, as a defendant. Jones asked Baugh to deal with complaints about the Steiners’ website and comments on the site, according to the lawsuit, and her failure to properly oversee Baugh was a “proximate cause” of the harassment. The revised lawsuit also dropped the charge that the plot amounted to a violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, a law aimed at organized crime, while adding several charges of negligence, including that eBay was negligent in hiring, training, and supervising Baugh and the former employees who carried out the scheme."
maz1b 4y ago
Had to check if it was April Fools or not. Insane, almost comical (in a bad way) how this played out.

31 points by apress 4y ago

The bizarre plot was ignited by complaints from eBay’s top management about the Steiner’s coverage of the company and included sending the couple threatening Twitter messages, live spiders, and a funeral wreath, as well as following them around town and trying to install a tracking device on their car in August 2019. Jim Baugh, eBay’s former head of security who orchestrated the plot and traveled to Natick to surveil the couple, received the stiffest sentence of nearly five years in prison. What the hell is going on at eBay?

xkcd-sucks 4y ago
Boatloads of cocaine or maybe just > Baugh apologized for his actions and said he was “completely out of control” due to alcohol abuse. based on how clownish and counterproductive the harassment was -- Like ebay could have buried them under endless meritless lawsuits, or buried them literally through illegal direct action, but certainly not after being on record sending them spiders and funeral wreaths
tstrimple 4y ago
Oh man security work is way more interesting than I thought.
sieabahlpark 4y ago
[dead]

anxman 4y ago

This will end with a huge settlement. Ebay did wrong by targeting their most loyal merchants with a criminal campaign.

dangerboysteve 4y ago
Well, Ebay set aside $69M so that's a starting point.

D-Coder 4y ago

"The revised lawsuit added Wendy Jones, eBay’s former senior vice president of operations and Baugh’s direct supervisor, as a defendant. Jones asked Baugh to deal with complaints about the Steiners’ website and comments on the site, according to the lawsuit, and her failure to properly oversee Baugh was a “proximate cause” of the harassment. The revised lawsuit also dropped the charge that the plot amounted to a violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, a law aimed at organized crime, while adding several charges of negligence, including that eBay was negligent in hiring, training, and supervising Baugh and the former employees who carried out the scheme."

maz1b 4y ago

Had to check if it was April Fools or not. Insane, almost comical (in a bad way) how this played out.