Victims of eBay harassment campaign can seek punitive damages, US judge rules
By Nate Raymond
Nov 1 (Reuters) -A Massachusetts couple subjected by eBay employees to a bizarre harassment campaign after an online newsletter they published drew the ire of executives can seek punitive damages on some of their claims against the company, though not some of the "most distressing" ones, a federal judge ruled on Friday.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Patti Saris in Boston sought to clear up a legal question that the e-commerce company's lawyers said had been a sticking point in talks to settle the lawsuit by David and Ina Steiner, who it said were already seeking more than $12 million in economic damages.
Lawyers for the Steiners and eBay did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Seven former eBay workers have pleaded guilty and received sentences of as high as 57 months in prison for their roles in an extensive campaign that took place in 2019 that involved sending the Steiners cockroaches, fly larvae and a bloody Halloween pig mask, and surveilling their home in Natick, Massachusetts.
Prosecutors say the employees did so in order to silence them after senior executives deemed the Steiners' newsletter, EcommerceBytes, critical of eBay.
The San Jose, California-based company agreed in January to pay $3 million under a deferred prosecution agreement. But the company and some ex-eBay executives and employees remain defendants in a separate civil lawsuit by the Steiners.
During a hearing in July, a lawyer for eBay, Jack Pirozzolo of Sidley Austin, had told Saris that the company was seeking to settle the case but that it had become clear during discussions that they needed guidance from the judge on whether Steiners were entitled to seek punitive damages.
Under Massachusetts law, the Steiners would not be entitled to seek punitive damages against eBay. But the Steiners' lawyers, led by Andrew Finkelstein of Finkelstein & Partners, argued California law should apply to their damages claim.
Saris on Friday concluded the "most distressing conduct" underlying the Steiners' claims of trespass, false imprisonment, and Massachusetts Civil Rights Act violations occurred in Massachusetts, foreclosing the availability of punitive damages.
Those claims concerned actions by eBay employees who traveled to Natick to engage in surveillance of the couple and vandalism of their property, which the Steiners said exacerbated their fear for personal safety.
But Saris said the couple's other claims of intentional infliction of emotional distress and civil conspiracy covered not just the stalking and surveillance but also a broader range of conduct that was carried out online from eBay's California headquarters.
"California’s countervailing interest in deterring such malicious and extreme conduct by its corporate domiciles prevails since the most significant of the unlawful conduct took place within its borders," Saris wrote.
The case is Steiner v. eBay Inc, U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts, No. 21-cv-11181.
For the Steiners: Andrew Finkelstein of Finkelstein & Partners
For eBay: Jack Pirozzolo of Sidley Austin
Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston
면책조항: XM Group 회사는 체결 전용 서비스와 온라인 거래 플랫폼에 대한 접근을 제공하여, 개인이 웹사이트에서 또는 웹사이트를 통해 이용 가능한 콘텐츠를 보거나 사용할 수 있도록 허용합니다. 이에 대해 변경하거나 확장할 의도는 없습니다. 이러한 접근 및 사용에는 다음 사항이 항상 적용됩니다: (i) 이용 약관, (ii) 위험 경고, (iii) 완전 면책조항. 따라서, 이러한 콘텐츠는 일반적인 정보에 불과합니다. 특히, 온라인 거래 플랫폼의 콘텐츠는 금융 시장에서의 거래에 대한 권유나 제안이 아닙니다. 금융 시장에서의 거래는 자본에 상당한 위험을 수반합니다.
온라인 거래 플랫폼에 공개된 모든 자료는 교육/정보 목적으로만 제공되며, 금융, 투자세 또는 거래 조언 및 권고, 거래 가격 기록, 금융 상품 또는 원치 않는 금융 프로모션의 거래 제안 또는 권유를 포함하지 않으며, 포함해서도 안됩니다.
이 웹사이트에 포함된 모든 의견, 뉴스, 리서치, 분석, 가격, 기타 정보 또는 제3자 사이트에 대한 링크와 같이 XM이 준비하는 콘텐츠 뿐만 아니라, 제3자 콘텐츠는 일반 시장 논평으로서 "현재" 기준으로 제공되며, 투자 조언으로 여겨지지 않습니다. 모든 콘텐츠가 투자 리서치로 해석되는 경우, 투자 리서치의 독립성을 촉진하기 위해 고안된 법적 요건에 따라 콘텐츠가 의도되지 않았으며, 준비되지 않았다는 점을 인지하고 동의해야 합니다. 따라서, 관련 법률 및 규정에 따른 마케팅 커뮤니케이션이라고 간주됩니다. 여기에서 접근할 수 있는 앞서 언급한 정보에 대한 비독립 투자 리서치 및 위험 경고 알림을 읽고, 이해하시기 바랍니다.
