On Wednesday, Rippling made public the affidavit of a company employee who testified about his involvement as a spy for the HR technology company’s competitor, Deel. This revelation, along with Rippling’s recently filed lawsuit against Deel, unfolds a story reminiscent of a corporate espionage thriller, featuring clandestine operations and a destroyed phone.
TechCrunch has highlighted the most dramatic elements of this account from Rippling’s perspective, while acknowledging that it represents just one side of the narrative. This disclosure forms part of Rippling’s public relations efforts, with CEO Parker Conrad actively discussing it on social media.
To summarize, Rippling, a workforce management platform, recently announced its lawsuit against Deel, accusing the rival company of encouraging espionage. Rippling’s allegations include violations of the RICO racketeering act, misappropriation of trade secrets, and unfair competition. The identity of the Rippling employee was unveiled on Wednesday with the affidavit dated April 1.
According to the affidavit, Keith O’Brien was employed by Rippling in July 2023, working in the global payroll and compliance department in the Dublin office. In early 2024, after not securing a job with Deel, O’Brien started a payroll consulting business and eventually communicated his intention to leave Rippling to work on it full-time with Deel. O’Brien testified that Deel’s founder, CEO Alex Bouaziz, and CFO Philippe Bouaziz proposed he remain at Rippling to gather intelligence for Deel instead, offering a monthly payment starting at US$6,000, transitioning to cryptocurrency.
O’Brien claimed he accessed Slack, Google Drive, and other Rippling resources to gather information, which he then shared with Deel contacts through Telecom. The information he provided included sales leads, product roadmaps, customer details, and other requested data. The lawsuit states that during a four-month period, O’Brien disclosed information about hundreds of potential and actual Rippling customers, as well as details on Deel customers who were in talks with Rippling.
In the affidavit, O’Brien admitted he tried to erase evidence but later discovered that screen recordings had been unintentionally saved to his iCloud account. Rippling, as part of its strategy to identify the insider, sent a misleading legal letter to Deel, hinting at damaging information shared in a fabricated Slack channel called “d-defectors.” O’Brien was tasked with searching this channel, which led to his discovery.
On March 14, a lawyer confronted O’Brien in the office with a court order to search his devices. O’Brien submitted his laptop but concealed his phone, using a bathroom to reset it to factory settings and faking its disposal. He later destroyed the device on the advice of individuals he believed represented Deel, according to the affidavit.
The lawyer attempting to detain O’Brien informed him of a likely need to testify, but O’Brien departed the office regardless. Following the incident, he communicated with Deel’s CEO and other individuals he presumed were Deel’s legal representatives. Among their suggestions was a plan to relocate O’Brien and his family to Dubai, citing extradition policies.
During their counsel, O’Brien was advised to claim Rippling was involved in illicit payments to Russia, positioning himself as a whistleblower. Despite initially agreeing, O’Brien testified that he knew these claims were false. Eventually, after hiring his own lawyer, O’Brien chose to cooperate with authorities and disclose the truth.
Deel did not provide a comment in response to inquiries, nor did its CEO address the situation publicly. However, after the initial complaint, Deel issued a statement via a spokesperson denying all accusations and expressing intent to file counterclaims.
Rippling’s legal team, confident in their position, declared the evidence compelling and implicated Deel’s leadership in a corporate espionage scheme, with serious consequences anticipated. Support for Rippling emerged from industry peers, including Papaya Global’s CEO, who commended Rippling’s initiative to end such practices. Historically, Rippling’s provocations toward Deel, such as last year’s controversial “Snake Game” marketing campaign, have occasionally drawn criticism.
