Ex-eBay Security Director Cuts Deal To Testify Against Execs In Cyberstalking Civil Suit
eBay's ex-Senior Security Director Jim Baugh, who is currently serving a federal prison sentence for his part in criminal cyberstalking and harassment campaign, has agreed to testify against eBay execs as part of agreement reached to resolve civil claims against him in ongoing lawsuit.
The bizarre corporate plot unfolded in the summer of 2019, targeting Ina and David Steiner for their reporting on eBay at EcommerceBytes and seeking to unmask the identity of unsuckEBAY (also known as FidoMaster/Dan Davis) an anonymous source and commenter who also sparked the ire of top executives at the company.
Court records revealed sordid details of the harassment that included disturbing deliveries of live insects, bloody pig masks and funeral wreaths as well as threatening messages, doxxing that ultimately escalated to in-person stalking and an attempted break-in at the hands of high-level eBay security personnel led by Jim Baugh.
Liz Morton
Baugh, Director of Global Resiliency David Harville, Security Manager Philip Cooke, Sr Manager Special Operations Brian Gilbert, Sr Manager Global Intelligence Stephanie Popp, Global Intelligence Manager Stephanie Stockwell, and Security Analyst Veronica Zea all pleaded guilty and have been sentenced for their roles in these crimes.
eBay signed a deferred prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice that forced the company to admit to a detailed recitation of all the relevant facts involving six felony offenses with eBay paying a $3 Million fine and undergoing 3 years of enhanced compliance monitoring in order to avoid further criminal prosecution related to this matter.
But importantly, that $3 Million was paid to the US Treasury, not the victims, leaving the Steiners to pursue compensation through the civil court system.
The ongoing lawsuit names the seven criminal defendants plus eBay, ex-CEO Devin Wenig, ex-Communications Chief Steve Wymer, ex-SVP Global Operations Wendy Jones, and security company Progressive F.O.R.C.E Concepts (PFC), claiming direction and support for the harassment came from the very top of eBay's c-suite.
The Steiners originally sought $700 Million in total damages, which has now been reduced to $500 Million after some claims for punitive damages were dismissed while others were allowed to move forward following a November ruling by Judge Patti Saris.
Those original claimed damages were broken out amongst the various named defendants with eBay and Baugh(as the ringleader of the criminal activity) alleged to be the most liable at $200 Million each.
Lawyers for eBay and the executive defendants filed motions for summary judgement last month, arguing Judge Saris should not allow certain claims to be heard by a jury and should instead issue immediate rulings to dismiss some or all of the Steiners' claims.
Wenig, Wymer and Jones based many of their arguments for dismissal on their belief that crucial details revealed in Baugh's letter to the court at the criminal sentencing were inadmissible hearsay.
Liz Morton
The Steiners argued those details should not be excluded or used as a basis to dismiss the claims, since Baugh could be called to testify at trial to confirm the information contained in his sentencing letter and other documents from the criminal case.
Judge Saris set an in person hearing on the motions for summary judgement for March 10th, where it appeared her decision may rest heavily on whether or not Baugh would testify if the civil case proceeds to trial, and she ordered the plaintiffs to provide a status update to the court on that subject no later than April 1, 2025.
The Steiners filed their status update today, indicating that Jim Baugh will testify against Wenig, Wymer, and Jones at trial and that he will not invoke his Fifth Amendment rights to avoid self-incrimination.
Importantly, it appears in order to secure Baugh's cooperation, the Steiners have agreed to resolve their claims against him in this matter - though it's not yet clear if that means they are dropping the entire $200M they were seeking to recover from him or if they may have settled for a lower amount.
Stay tuned for updates in this developing story!
