Victims of eBay harassment campaign can seek punitive damages, US judge rules
Adds comment from lawyer for the plaintiffs in paragraphs 3-5
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.
Andrew Finkelstein, a lawyer for the Steiners at Finkelstein & Partners, in a statement called Saris' decision allowing them to pursue punitive damages important in the couples' efforts to "stand up to such corporate activities."
"Punitive damages are intended to deter such behavior in the future, and the Steiners are pleased a jury will be able to send such a message with a money verdict," he said.
Representatives for eBaydid 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
免責聲明: XM Group提供線上交易平台的登入和執行服務，允許個人查看和/或使用網站所提供的內容，但不進行任何更改或擴展其服務和訪問權限，並受以下條款與條例約束：（i）條款與條例；（ii）風險提示；（iii）完全免責聲明。網站內部所提供的所有資訊，僅限於一般資訊用途。請注意，我們所有的線上交易平台內容並不構成，也不被視為進入金融市場交易的邀約或邀請 。金融市場交易會對您的投資帶來重大風險。
所有缐上交易平台所發佈的資料，僅適用於教育/資訊類用途，不包含也不應被視爲適用於金融、投資稅或交易相關諮詢和建議，或是交易價格紀錄，或是任何金融商品或非應邀途徑的金融相關優惠的交易邀約或邀請。
本網站的所有XM和第三方所提供的内容，包括意見、新聞、研究、分析、價格其他資訊和第三方網站鏈接，皆爲‘按原狀’，並作爲一般市場評論所提供，而非投資建議。請理解和接受，所有被歸類為投資研究範圍的相關内容，並非爲了促進投資研究獨立性，而根據法律要求所編寫，而是被視爲符合營銷傳播相關法律與法規所編寫的内容。請確保您已詳讀並完全理解我們的非獨立投資研究提示和風險提示資訊，相關詳情請點擊 這裡查看。
