Are Punitive Damages Available in Publishers’ Lawsuit Over Harassment Campaign by eBay Employees?
If you’re in law school, take a Choice of Laws class (often called Conflicts of Laws); these issues come up in a huge range of cases, both involving state law and involving the law of foreign countries, and if you don’t know the basics of choice of laws, you often won’t even be able to know enough to do the necessary research. Here’s how it plays out in a particularly lurid case, Steiner v. Ebay, Inc. (D. Mass.); an excerpt from today’s decision by Judge Patti Saris (for more, see this post about the civil case and this one about the criminal prosecution):
In this extraordinary and troubling case, eBay, an e-commerce company, conducted a campaign to silence Ina and David Steiner, a married couple living in Natick, Massachusetts, through harassment, stalking, and threats. The Steiners own and operate a trade publication [EcommerceBytes] that published critical coverage of eBay. In response, as alleged, eBay’s top executives and employees made online threats, signed the Steiners up for over fifty unwanted email subscriptions, and sent disturbing packages to their home, including fly larvae, spiders, a bloody pig mask, and a funeral wreath.
The planning for this illegal campaign originated in California, where much of the online activity also took place, but other actions, like the surveillance and vandalism of the Steiners’ home, occurred in Massachusetts. As a result of the harassment campaign, seven individuals involved in the conspiracy were criminally charged and have since pleaded guilty. The Steiners filed this civil suit against multiple defendants, including eBay. Now, both eBay and the Steiners have moved for partial summary judgment on the issue of whether Massachusetts or California law will govern the question of punitive damages….
The parties agree that Massachusetts law governs questions of liability and compensatory damages but disagree on whether this Court should apply Massachusetts or California law to the issue of punitive damages for six of the Steiners’ remaining claims against eBay. The parties and the Court also agree that California and Massachusetts law conflict: punitive damages are available under California law but not under Massachusetts law for the relevant causes of action. Compare Pine v. Rust (Mass. 1989) (“Punitive damages are not favored in Massachusetts, and we have long followed the principle that, absent statutory authorization, punitive damages may not be awarded.”), with Haigler v. Donnelly (Cal. 1941) (“If … the action is one in tort, exemplary damages may be recover
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