Curious tale of two HR tech unicorns, alleged espionage, and claims of a spy hiding in a bathroom Rival HR technology unicorns are at each other's throats in a courtroom brawl over alleged corporate espionage. The People Center, also known as Rippling, on Monday sued rival workforce management firm Deel for alleged theft of trade secrets and corporate espionage. Both companies are Delaware corporations operating out of …
• "In total, Slack logs of D.S.'s activity establish that he secretly viewed and downloaded information from Rippling Slack channels dedicated to prospective clients over 1,300 times between November 2024 and March 2025"
I'm curious as to how Slack's client software could determine whether or not a Slack user was surrounded by people, was by themselves, and/or intended to use Slack "secretly". (Hint: it can't.)
• Deel spokesperson: "We deny all legal wrongdoing and look forward to asserting our counterclaims."
I see the Deel spokesperson does not deny illegal wrongdoing.
This all looks like a case of asshole-versus-asshole.
I suspect DS might soon find himself incarcerated and in deep shit.
I don't think the US Rent-a-Judge franchise is available in the Emerald Isle.
Cunning plans aside this whole nonsense would make decent pitch for a new Blackadder series.
The DS character could be portrayed as a more incompetent version of Johnny English.
The whole #d-defectors bit is pure Baldrick.
HR Unicorns? They would be fairly safe from capture as no sentient creature would venture within a city block of them let alone the necessary virgin which in any case is nowadays probably rarer.
Doing a bunk from a court appointed solicitor is just Wow levels of stupid.
I mean barricading yourself in the bathroom and deleting your phone is stupid, especially after being warned that this was a criminal offence. You're basically asking to have your butt thrown in jail. It's holding your hand up and saying "I'm Guilty, your Honour!"
But actually fleeing the scene. Wow that's just a whole other level of stupid. I mean, clearly they know where you live! Where are you going to go?
I guess Stupidtiy knows no bounds...
If they needed his phone to prove his crime and now don't have it would that mean that they can only charge him with destruction of evidence / failure to obey a lawful order? Or can the court assume that there was compromising info on his phone as 'proven' by him going to such lengths to avoid complying with the order?
https://www.irishtimes.com/business/2025/03/19/i-had-a-breakdown-dublin-office-worker-accused-of-passing-trade-secrets-to-rival-firm-has-destroyed-phone-court-hears/
He's not been well. As to the contempt of court, the judge has offered that if he owns up to what was on the phone, then he might not be held in contempt.
Ah, it was sent to the other company.... but about a channel private to Rippling - so it could be accessed only from an insider? (I never used Slack so I don't know how it works) In some jurisdiction such a letter would amount to a blackmail attempt, anyway.
He should have fled with the phone and then taken a sightseeing sea trip...
"The court has heard that Mrs Vardy's agent, Caroline Watt, lost her phone in the North Sea after it was hit by a wave before Mrs Rooney's team could see WhatsApp messages that could potentially help her case."
> "Both companies are Delaware corporations operating out of San Francisco,"
1) The coffeehouses are very much better in SF. Whiskey too (Delaware had Blue Laws not long ago, or still?) Better choice of sex workers, so I hear.
2) Corporation and tax laws are very much better in Delaware. Delaware has a business court system of real experts who wrap complex cases by lunch. Around 1900 NJ was poaching corporations from NY, but Gov Woodrow Wilson put a stop to that. Then Delaware reformed incorporation from a legislative act to a simple form and fee. "More than 50% of all U.S. publicly traded companies and 63% of the Fortune 500 are incorporated in Delaware."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Delaware#Incorporation_in_Delaware
