EBay and Former Execs Will Pay $56 Million to Couple They Tormented With Bloody Pig Masks

Ece Yildirim· Jul 28, 2026 · 9:40 PM UTC ·2 min read · 0 reactions · 0 comments · 7 views

TL;DR · WeSearch summary

Led by eBay’s head of security, James Baugh, the executives cyberstalked the couple, sending threats, and also surveilled the couple in real life and conspired to plant a GPS tracking device. The torment also included mailing them live spiders and cockroaches, a funeral wreath, a copy of a book called “Grief Diaries: Surviving Loss of a Spouse,” and a bloody pig mask. The couple brought legal action against the executives in 2021.

Key facts

▪Led by eBay’s head of security, James Baugh, the executives cyberstalked the couple, sending threats, and also surveilled the couple in real life and conspired to plant a GPS tracking device.
▪The torment also included mailing them live spiders and cockroaches, a funeral wreath, a copy of a book called “Grief Diaries: Surviving Loss of a Spouse,” and a bloody pig mask.
▪The couple brought legal action against the executives in 2021.

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Original publisher	Gizmodo
Canonical URL	https://gizmodo.com/ebay-and-former-execs-will-pay-56-million-to-couple-they-tormented-with-bloody-pig-masks-2000792034
Publication time	Tue, 28 Jul 2026 21:40:11 +0000
Retrieval time	2026-07-28T21:45:37.571Z
Last seen	2026-07-28T21:45:37.571Z
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Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand

E-commerce website eBay and a group of its former executives will pay roughly $56 million to settle a lawsuit, six years after the company engaged in a campaign to physically and psychologically torment a journalist couple, hoping to stop them from posting critical pieces.cnx.cmd.push(function(){cnx({"playerId":"92b7b46b-43ed-4e0e-b21b-2c999302d9d7","settings":{"advertising":{"macros":{"AD_UNIT":"/23178111854/od.gizmodo.com/article","CHILD_UNIT":"article","POST_ID":"2000792034","POST_TYPE":"post","CHANNEL":"tech","SECTION":"crime","SUBSECTION":"","CATEGORIES":"crime","TAGS":"ebay","NOP":"0"},"timeBeforeFirstAd":0}}}).render("cnx-player-main")}); Back in 2019, a group of top eBay executives set up a deranged scheme to torment Ina and David Steiner, a couple who penned critical pieces about…

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