Rippling has publicly released an affidavit from one of its employees, who claims to have been working as a spy for Deel, a rival HR tech company. The affidavit provides a detailed account of the alleged corporate espionage, including a sting operation and a destroyed phone.

This revelation comes after Rippling filed a lawsuit against Deel last week, accusing the company of violating the RICO racketeering act and misappropriating trade secrets. The lawsuit also alleges that Deel engaged in unfair competition.

It is essential to note that this is only one side of the story, as presented by Rippling. The company’s CEO, Parker Conrad, has been actively promoting this narrative on social media. However, Deel has denied all allegations of legal wrongdoing and claims that Rippling is trying to shift the narrative.

To recap, Rippling announced last week that it was suing Deel over the alleged spying, which reportedly took place over four months. The lawsuit claims that the spy, Keith O’Brien, shared sensitive information about Rippling’s sales leads, product roadmaps, and customer accounts with Deel.

Rippling made the affidavit of the employee public on Wednesday, revealing the name of the alleged spy. The affidavit is dated April 1 and provides a detailed account of O’Brien’s involvement with Deel.

Becoming a Corporate Spy

According to the affidavit, O’Brien was hired by Rippling in July 2023 and worked in the global payroll and compliance department. In early 2024, he interviewed for a job at Deel but was not hired. However, he connected with Deel’s founder on LinkedIn and later started a payroll consulting business.

O’Brien testified that Deel’s founder and CFO suggested that he spy on Rippling instead of quitting his job. They allegedly offered to pay him €5,000 per month, with the first payment made in US dollars, and later transactions conducted in cryptocurrency.

O’Brien claimed that he conducted searches on Slack, Google Drive, and other Rippling resources for sensitive information and communicated with his contacts at Deel via Telecom. He also turned over information on sales leads, product roadmaps, customer accounts, and other sensitive data.

The lawsuit alleges that the spying took place for four months and that O’Brien shared information about hundreds of companies that requested a Rippling demo, hundreds of notes about prospects from salespeople, and details on Deel customers that Rippling was in talks with.

Caught by a Simple Trap

O’Brien thought he was careful in covering his tracks, but he later discovered that some of the screen recordings he had taken with his phone were backed up to his iCloud account without his knowledge.

Rippling set a trap to catch the spy by sending a threatening legal letter to Deel’s leadership, claiming that Rippling employees were discussing sensitive information in a Slack channel called “d-defectors.” However, this channel was a ruse, and the lawsuit claims that O’Brien was caught when he searched the channel.

When confronted with a court order to search his devices, O’Brien hid his phone, escaped to the office bathroom, wiped his phone to factory settings, and pretended to flush it. He later smashed his old phone with an axe and disposed of it at his mother-in-law’s house, as advised by people he believed represented Deel.

O’Brien eventually hired his own lawyer and decided to cooperate with authorities, revealing the truth about his involvement with Deel. Deel has denied all allegations of legal wrongdoing, claiming that Rippling is trying to shift the narrative.

Rippling’s attorney believes they have a “smoking gun” in this case, with evidence implicating Deel’s leadership in a corporate espionage scheme. Others, such as Eynat Guez, CEO of Papaya Global, have come out in support of Rippling, thanking them for taking initiative and ending this practice.

However, it is essential to note that Rippling’s actions toward Deel have not always been well-received. Last year, Rippling launched a marketing campaign called “Snake Game” that pitted itself against Deel, but the campaign was met with backlash online.

The full affidavit can be read here.