The cyberstalking scandal was of major concern to eBay, as their reputation was on the line. In the business world, one scandal can ruin an entire company's reputation. Therefore, eBay's reaction to the issue was of considerable importance.
While eBay did not make a ton of comments as a company, they did release a company statement on their website on June 15, 2020 titled "eBay Inc. Issues Statement Regarding Indictments of Perviously Terminated Employees." This statement was eBay's way of showing the public that they as a company reacted to the situation well and that these employees are not representative of the company as a whole. eBay explained the steps they took to resolve the issue when they learned of it and made a formal apology to the public.
In August 2019, eBay was notified about the case, and as a result, they launched their own internal investigation promptly with "the assistance of outside legal counsel, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP." The Board of Directors also formed an independent special committee to oversee the investigation. In the investigation, eBay confirmed what the authorities did, and fired the involved employees as a result. However, eBay investigators concluded that "while Mr.Wenig's communications were inappropriate, there was no evidence that he knew in advance about or authorized the actions that were later directed toward the blogger and her husband." eBay announced that "there were a number of considerations leading to his departure from the Company," trying to communicate that the case was not the sole reason. Nonetheless, his aggressive text messages show that Wenig at the very least infuriated with the Steiners, as they not only criticized eBay, but him as an individual.
In the statement, eBay wanted to ensure the public that their response to the case was right and that they did not look lightly on this matter: "eBay took these allegations very seriously from the onset. Upon learning of them, eBay moved quickly to investigate thoroughly and take appropriate action. The Company cooperated fully and extensively with law enforcement authorities throughout the process." The Company wanted to show everyone that they did what was ethical instead of defending and siding with their employees. eBay was showing the public that they are on the side of righteousness and against the horrendous actions of their security team: "eBay does not tolerate this kind of behavior. eBay apologizes to the affected individuals and is sorry that they were subjected to this. eBay holds its employees to high standards of conduct and ethics and will continue to take appropriate action to ensure these standards are followed." To further establish this, Jamie Iannone, eBay's CEO after Devin Wenig, released an updated Code of Business Conduct and Ethics a few months after entering office.
While nothing can compensate for how the eBay employees ruined the lives of the Steiners, I believe that the Company's reaction to the case was sufficient. Idealists may believe that eBay should have done more for the Steiners because they have caused them extreme emotional and psychological distress. All eBay did was apologize in the company statement and sent them an apology email, and they fired the employees involved. Idealists may also believe that they should have fired Wenig instead of having him resign and give him a hefty severance package. It is unsettling that both Wenig and Wymer got away with encouraging Baugh and the security team to terrorize the Steiners, ruining the lives of innocent people who were just doing their job as journalists and exercising their right of free speech and free press.
However, I do not believe that there is much more that eBay could have done. The psychological damage they caused the Steiners is irreversible, and no sum of money could make up for that. Indeed, the email apology was pretty pathetic given the intensity of the case as a whole. The Steiners did win the court case, but money cannot make up for the damage done. I believe it was right of eBay to fire the involved employees.
As much as some might not want to hear it, I believe that eBay could not really have fired Wenig because of his "involvement" in the case. eBay claimed that their internal investigation concluded that "there was no evidence that he knew in advance about or authorized the actions that were later directed the blogger and her husband." I am a bit suspicious of these results because texts like "Take her down," send a pretty clear signal that he wants action to be taken against the Steiners. Therefore, I believe that eBay is not telling the public everything they found in the investigation or that the results of the investigation were influenced by personal bias. Many journalists believe that Wenig influenced the stalking scandal, as his texts suggested that. Wymer at least had strong connections to Baugh, who have the final directions to the rest of the security team, so it is very likely that Wenig instructed him to "Take her down." Despite this, I do not think eBay could have legally fired Wenig if he was not proven guilty in the court of law, meaning that there is sufficient evidence to prove that that he told the employees to terrorize the Steiners. In this country, one is innocent until proven guilty, and Wenig is considered innocent because he was not proven guilty by eBay investigators. The $57 million severance package does not sit right, but if it was part of the corporation's rules to grant the CEO their package when he resigns, then that is what they must do. I do however believe that there is more to this. Wenig was on eBay's Board of Directors since 2011, so there is a possibility that he was friends with some of the Board members and that could have influenced their decisions. Nonetheless, eBay's actions were appropriate given their investigation, which had some third-party involvement.
Overall, I eBay's reaction to the case was somewhat satisfactory. The employees involved no longer work for the company, and justice was made in the court of law. I do not believe that eBay could have done anything to prevent Wenig and Wymer from being hired to the other positions. eBay now has a new CEO and great code of ethics, so we can hope that another eBay scandal will not appear in the news anytime soon.
Sources:
eBay Company Statement: https://www.ebayinc.com/stories/news/ebay-inc-issues-statement-regarding-indictments-of-previously-terminated-employees/
WCVB Channel 5 Boston: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkwQJO97oaM
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