According to her LinkedIn profile, Elisabeth Diana, the head of communications at Deel’s human resources department, is no longer employed by the company.

The news of Diana’s resignation from Deel was first reported by Bloomberg, which comes amid a spying scandal involving the company and its rival, Rippling.

At the time of publication, TechCrunch had reached out to Diana but had not received a response. Her LinkedIn profile indicates that she began working at Deel in November 2021 and ended her tenure in April 2025. Prior to joining Deel, she served as the head of communications at Instagram and the corporate head of communications at Facebook, with Deel’s CEO Alex Bouaziz pictured above.

On March 17, Rippling, a workforce management platform, announced a lawsuit against Deel, alleging spying and leveling charges including violation of the RICO racketeering act, misappropriation of trade secrets, and unfair competition.

Although Rippling initially did not disclose the name of the employee involved, on April 2, it released an affidavit signed by the employee, Keith O’Brien, which appeared to confirm the allegations made by Rippling.

The account provided by O’Brien reads like a script from a movie about corporate espionage, featuring a sting operation and a smashed phone, and is even more remarkable than the already-sensational lawsuit Rippling filed against Deel in March.

The future of Deel, which was last valued at $12.6 billion, remains uncertain. Backed by prominent investors such as General Catalyst, Andreessen Horowitz, Spark Capital, and Y Combinator, the startup was reportedly considering an initial public offering just two months ago.

In response to Rippling’s lawsuit, Deel issued a statement denying any wrongdoing and claiming that its rival was attempting to “shift the narrative” from accusations that Rippling itself had violated Russian sanctions. The company has not provided any additional comments despite requests.