Rippling sues Deel in spy thriller-adjacent complaint

Rippling’s believe it or not: The payroll and HR startup, most recently valued at $13.5 billion, this week sued rival and direct competitor Deel (valued at $12 billion), accusing it of corporate espionage.

Let’s make a Deel: In a 48-page complaint, Rippling alleges that its rival cultivated a mole within its Dublin office that fed info back to Deel’s top execs, including details about Deel customers who were discussing a switch away from the company.

Following various leaks, Rippling earlier this month conducted a “honeypot” test to draw out the mole.

• It informed two members of Deel’s senior leadership team, including CEO and co-founder Alex Bouaziz, that Rippling employees were discussing info about Deel in a Slack channel that would be embarrassing if made public.
• Within a few hours, the mole searched for and accessed the decoy channel, per Rippling, who says this proves Deel’s leadership team (or someone acting on their behalf) was running the alleged spy.

Meanwhile…Deel told HR Dive that Rippling is “seeding falsehoods,” trying to shift the narrative with sensationalized claims after being accused of violating “sanctions law in Russia.”

It’s not the first time the pair had beef: Rippling last year launched “Snake Game,” an online game that compares Deel to a snake oil salesman and accuses the company of charging higher fees than Rippling.