Latest news with #KeithOBrien
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Rippling spy says men have been following him, and his wife is afraid
If becoming a spy sounds like an exciting way to live like a le Carré character, let this newest affidavit from confessed Rippling spy Keith O'Brien serve as a warning. On Friday, an Irish judge granted O'Brien a restraining order against several men who have not yet been identified, according to the court order seen by TechCrunch. O'Brien testified that multiple men — two in a gray Skoda Superb on one occasion, and more often, a short-haired, heavy-set man in a black SUV, sometimes accompanied by a large dog — had repeatedly followed his car and watched his home. O'Brien's story has captured the imagination of the tech industry after his colorful confession in April, in which he alleged that he was a spy for Deel. He said he was paid €5,000 a month to steal Rippling's internal data on everything from products to customers. Rippling caught him by setting up a honeypot Slack channel. On the day he was caught, O'Brien pretended to flush his phone down the corporate toilet and later smashed it, dropping pieces down the drain at his mother-in-law's house, according to his affidavit. Now he's the star witness for Rippling in its lawsuit against Deel. Rippling is even picking up the tab for his legal and related expenses, its lawyers testified. Deel is also countersuing Rippling, claiming it was spied on too, by a Rippling employee impersonating a customer. The two HR tech companies have been bitter rivals for years after Deel — once a Rippling customer — began offering competing products. In the latest part of the saga, O'Brien testified that he tried to lose the black SUV following his car by making sudden turns and taking roundabout ways to get home, only to see it reappear in his rearview mirror. He hired a security consulting company and feared that someone was placing tracking devices on his car. O'Brien claims all of these incidents have created 'emotional and psychological' damage for himself and his wife. 'We have been experiencing anxiety at home and in public. It has affected our sleep and our concentration,' O'Brien said in his latest affidavit. They are fearful for the safety of their four children. He and his lawyer speculated that this was intended as harassment related to his role as star witness. However, O'Brien's lawyer also admitted in court that they had no evidence tying the men to Deel. Deel also denied knowing anything about the man in the black SUV. According to the Irish publication Business Post, when granting the injunction, the judge apparently said, 'As if they are in a 1970s cops and robbers' TV show. Whatever happens in the dueling court cases, O'Brien has made himself the rope in a bitter tug of war between these two well-funded HR startups. And from what he says in his testimony, it sounds painful. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
TechCrunch
2 days ago
- Business
- TechCrunch
Rippling spy says men have been following him, and his wife is afraid
If becoming a spy sounds like an exciting way to live like a Le Carré character, let this newest affidavit from confessed Rippling spy Keith O'Brien serve as a warning. On Friday, an Irish judge granted O'Brien a restraining order against several men who have not yet been identified, according to the court order seen by TechCrunch. O'Brien testified that multiple men – two in a gray Skoda Superb on one occasion, and more often, a short-haired, heavy-set man in a black SUV, sometimes accompanied by a large dog – had repeatedly followed his car and watched his home. O'Brien's story has captured the imagination of the tech industry after his colorful confession in April, in which he alleged that he was a spy for Deel. He said he was paid €5,000 a month to steal Rippling's internal data on everything from products to customers. Rippling caught him by setting up a honeypot Slack channel. On the day he was caught, O'Brien pretended to flush his phone down the corporate toilet and later smashed it, dropping pieces down the drain at his mother-in-law's house, according to his affidavit. Now he's the star witness for Rippling in its lawsuit against Deel. Rippling is even picking up the tab for his legal and related expenses, its lawyers testified. Deel is also countersuing Rippling, claiming it was spied on too, by a Rippling employee impersonating a customer. The two HR tech companies have been bitter rivals for years after Deel – once a Rippling customer – began offering competing products. In the latest part of the saga, O'Brien testified that he tried to lose the black SUV following his car by making sudden turns and taking roundabout ways to get home, only to see it reappear in his rearview mirror. He hired a security consulting company and feared that someone was placing tracking devices on his car. O'Brien claims all of these incidents have created 'emotional and psychological' damage for himself and his wife. 'We have been experiencing anxiety at home and in public. It has affected our sleep and our concentration,' O'Brien said in his latest affidavit. They are fearful for the safety of their four children. He and his lawyer speculated that this was intended as harassment related to his role as star witness. However, O'Brien's lawyer also admitted in court that they had no evidence tying the men to Deel. Deel also denied knowing anything about the man in the black SUV. Techcrunch event Save $200+ on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Save $200+ on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Boston, MA | REGISTER NOW According to the Irish publication Business Post, when granting the injunction, the judge apparently said, 'As if they are in a 1970s cops and robbers' TV show. Whatever happens in the dueling court cases, O'Brien has made himself the rope in a bitter tug of war between these two well-funded HR startups. And from what he says in his testimony, it sounds painful.
Bloomberg
10-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
The Spying Scandal Rocking the World of HR Software
Businessweek Technology HR software maker Rippling accused Deel, a key rival, of hiring a staff member to serve as a mole. Things escalated from there. On a cold March day in Dublin, Keith O'Brien looked down at his phone, raised an axe and smashed the device, again and again. A day earlier—a day O'Brien would later describe in sworn testimony as one of the darkest of his life—a corporate lawyer had given him the legally dubious advice to throw the phone into one of Dublin's canals. Instead he crushed it beyond recovery, gathered the shards and flushed them down the drain at his mother-in-law's house.
Irish Times
03-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
New spying claims emerge in Silicon Valley corporate espionage scandal with Irish twist
A bitter fight over alleged corporate espionage involving two of Silicon Valley's hottest start-ups took a new twist on Tuesday, after $12 billion (€10.5 billion) HR software company Deel claimed arch-rival Rippling had directed one of its employees to 'pilfer' the company's assets by posing as a customer. The latest claim comes after Rippling alleged earlier this year that a Dublin-based staff member had been spying on behalf of Deel. The employee, Keith O'Brien, locked himself into a bathroom and smashed his phone with an axe when confronted with allegations, according to his own testimony. In new legal filings seen by the Financial Times, Deel has countered by arguing that: 'Rippling has been actively engaged in a carefully co-ordinated espionage campaign, through which it infiltrated Deel's customer platform by fraudulent means and pilfered the company's most valuable proprietary assets.' The case has exposed the increasingly bitter rivalry between the two San Francisco-based groups, backed by some of the Valley's top investors, who are competing in the typically staid world of workforce management software. READ MORE The two tech unicorns are backed by some of America's most high-profile start-up investors. Rippling was valued at $16.8 billion last month. Deel has sought to dismiss Rippling's initial claims of directing corporate espionage and has filed a lawsuit in Delaware alleging its rival is trying to impugn Deel's reputation. Its latest filings were lodged on Tuesday morning as an amendment in that case. It alleges that Brett Alexander Johnson, Rippling's 'competitive intelligence manager', posed as a customer and accessed details of Deel's products and business practices over the course of six months. That information was in turn used to build one of Rippling's products, Deel alleges. Deel's investigation 'remains in its nascent stages' but the company nonetheless claims it has 'unequivocal proof' of Mr Johnson's alleged activities. It also alleges that Rippling chief executive Parker Conrad encouraged Mr Johnson's activities with the intention of uncovering 'the secrets by which Deel has achieved years of profitability'. Rippling originally filed a suit against Deel in California in March. Deel has filed motions to dismiss that and move the case to Ireland. It has separately filed a civil lawsuit against Rippling in Delaware. The latest allegations are an amendment to the Delaware suit. The dispute stems from Rippling's claim in a March court filing that Deel had cultivated Mr O'Brien, a Rippling employee, to steal confidential business information over a four-month period. 'The highest levels of Deel's leadership are implicated in a brazen corporate espionage scheme and they will be held accountable,' said Alex Spiro, legal counsel for Rippling, at the time. Mr O'Brien also said in his testimony that he was operating for Deel at the direction of chief executive Alex Bouaziz, Deel has suggested O'Brien, was in fact a whistleblower concerned with Rippling's business practices and claimed he provided testimony under duress. Rippling did not immediately respond to a request for comment. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025
TechCrunch
19-05-2025
- Business
- TechCrunch
Deel wants Rippling to hand over any agreements involving paying the alleged spy
Deel has lobbed a new volley in the ongoing legal battle with rival HR tech startup Rippling. Deel filed a motion, containing a series of letters, asking the Irish court to make Rippling hand over information. In one letter, Deel wants unredacted versions of witness affidavits, including the famed one by former Rippling employee, Keith O'Brien. In a story full of plot twists that reads like a movie, O'Brien admitted in an Irish court to being a spy for Deel, according to the affidavit released by Rippling. Rippling filed a lawsuit against Deel in March that alleges misappropriation of trade secrets, tortious interference, unfair competition, and more, largely based on the spying allegations. Deel has since countersued, attempting to get Rippling's suit dismissed on a series of issues like jurisdiction, but also making its own allegations about Rippling. Deel alleges, for instance, that Rippling was also attempting to spy on Deel. In the letters publicly released Monday, Deel is pointing to an affidavit from Rippling employee, Vanessa Wu, formerly Rippling's general counsel. Much of the affidavit recounted what Wu recalled of alleged spy-related happenings and her take on various letters sent between the two sides' lawyers. But Deel points out Wu also testified that Rippling fired O'Brien and paid him a termination fee in exchange for him signing an agreement not to sue. Wu also testified, the affidavit said, that Rippling entered into a second agreement with O'Brien where Rippling 'agreed to contribute towards Mr. O'Brien's costs of these proceedings and to pay his reasonable out of pocket and legal expenses in connection with the cooperation to be provided under that agreement.' Deel wants a court to make Rippling turn over full unredacted versions of both of those agreements. It wants to tell anyone who will listen how unusual it is that an employee fired for cause winds up back on a company's payroll as a paid witness. Techcrunch event Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot for our leading AI industry event with speakers from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Cohere. For a limited time, tickets are just $292 for an entire day of expert talks, workshops, and potent networking. Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you've built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Berkeley, CA | REGISTER NOW Needless to say, both sides vehemently proclaim their own innocence while pointing fingers at the other. We'll have to wait and see what the court rules, but if it does make more of O'Brien's testimony and those termination agreements publicly available, we'll be reading.
