lawsuit doc
The high-profile legal battle between Silicon Valley payroll software companies Deel and Rippling has taken a new twist. In a lawsuit filed on Tuesday, Deel accused its rival of having an employee pose as a Deel customer to gather information that Rippling then used to create similar products.
“Deel has confirmed that from the highest ranks at Rippling, the directive was clear: penetrate Deel through whatever means necessary (and with utter disregard of the law) to uncover the secrets by which Deel has achieved years of profitability and eclipsed $1 billion in annual revenue (while Rippling, meanwhile, wallows in unprofitability and hemorrhages investor money),” the lawsuit said.
Recommended For You
This was only the latest salvo in the dispute between the two companies. In April, Keith O’Brien, who formerly worked for Rippling, admitted in an Irish court that Alex Bouaziz, the founder and CEO of Deel, had recruited him to spy on his employer. O’Brien, a global payment compliance officer in Rippling’s Dublin, Ireland, office, was offered monthly payments of 5,000 euros to provide information that included what he called “a lot of Rippling confidential information” through screenshots and screen recordings.
Deel has sought to dismiss Rippling’s initial claims of directing corporate espionage. Its lawsuit alleges that Rippling’s Brett Alexander Johnson posed as a customer for six months to learn details about Deel’s products and business practices.
“Deel’s discovery of this illicit theft of its proprietary information makes clear for Rippling, its employees, its customers and its investors something disturbing that will be made more clear as this litigation continues: but for the information it stole from Deel, Rippling today may not have an Employer of Record (“EOR”) product in the market at all,” the lawsuit said. “Key elements of Deel’s EOR product literally have been stolen, lifted and shifted into Rippling’s offering.”
The lawsuit further alleged that “Deel is confident that this is just the tip of the iceberg, given that it is aware that Rippling has also victimized other companies by stealing their information, including Asure, Blue Marble, Trinet and Brex.”
Rippling CEO Parker Conrad previously was involved in a different scandal with his former company, Zeneifits, in which he sold $10 million in stock before his mandated resignation. “Built on the same pillars of dishonesty and unethical conduct that were the hallmarks of Parker Conrad’s prior failed business,” the lawsuit said, “Rippling’s true colors have now come to light -- and the truth is sinister.”
© Touchpoint Markets, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more inforrmation visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Alan Goforth
Alan Goforth is a freelance writer in suburban Kansas City. In addition to freelancing for several publications, he has written a dozen books about sports and other topics.
