The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit on Wednesday accusing online auction site eBay of selling "hundreds of thousands" of dangerously contaminated products. The complaint alleges that eBay sold 343,000 aftermarket defeat devices that illegally subverted motor vehicle emissions controls and violated the Clean Air Act. These devices allow gas vehicles to pass emissions tests while continuing to emit toxic chemicals, including carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and non-methane hydrocarbons.
The company is also accused of selling or facilitating the sale of 23,000 "unregistered, mislabeled, or restricted-use pesticide products," in violation of the EPA's 2020 cease-and-desist order against eBay. These products include "a highly toxic pesticide banned in the United States, restricted-use pesticides that can only be applied by certified applicators, and products that falsely claim to protect users from the SARS-CoV-2 virus."
eBay is also accused of selling more than 5,600 products containing paint or coatings containing methylene chloride, which can cause illness and death. The sale of these products is prohibited in the United States under the Toxic Substances Control Act.
The Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency said in a statement that the two agencies are seeking to prevent eBay from selling such products because they are known to harm public health and harm the environment.
"Laws prohibiting the sale of products that could seriously harm human health and the environment apply to e-commerce retailers like eBay just as they do to brick-and-mortar stores," Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Department of Justice's Environment and Natural Resources Division said in a statement. "We are committed to preventing the illegal sale and distribution of exhaust devices and hazardous chemicals that, if used improperly, can have dire consequences for individuals and communities."
In its defense, eBay said it had already begun blocking the sale of dangerous products when the Justice Department filed its lawsuit. The company claims it has been working with law enforcement, including the Department of Justice, for "more than two decades" to prevent harmful items from being sold on its platform.
"We invest significant resources, employ state-of-the-art technology, and ensure our teams are properly trained to prevent prohibited items from being listed on the marketplace," the company said in an unsigned statement. "In fact, eBay is blocking and removing more than 99.9% of product listings cited by the Department of Justice, including millions of listings each year."
The company added: "The government's actions are completely unprecedented, and eBay intends to vigorously defend itself."
This isn't the first time eBay has been the target of a federal lawsuit. More than a decade ago, the Justice Department sued the company for illegal collusion with financial software company Intuit for allegedly refusing to hire its employees. The two parties reached a settlement in 2014, with eBay agreeing not to enter into any anticompetitive employment agreements for five years.
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