The intensifying legal battle between global payroll and HR tech giants Deel and Rippling took a dramatic new turn on Friday, as Israeli unicorn Deel filed a lawsuit against Rippling, alleging a “pattern of behavior” that it claims threatens the integrity of the entire HR industry.
The countersuit comes in response to Rippling’s earlier legal action against Deel, in which Rippling accused the company of stealing trade secrets and poaching employees. Deel’s new filing not only denies these allegations but goes further, accusing Rippling of engaging in unfair business practices that harm competitors and destabilize trust in the HR technology sector.
Founded in 2018 by Israeli entrepreneurs Alex Bouaziz and Shuo Wang, Deel has grown into one of the fastest-scaling startups in the HR and global payroll space, recently reaching a valuation of over $12 billion. Deel provides solutions for hiring, onboarding, and managing remote teams across more than 150 countries. Its rival, Rippling, led by former Zenefits CEO Parker Conrad, has also rapidly expanded into a major player in the HR, IT, and finance automation sectors.
The legal clash highlights the fierce competition in the booming HR tech market, as companies race to dominate the future of remote work and global employment management. Industry observers say this escalating conflict could have major implications for both startups’ reputations and their aggressive global expansion strategies.
On March 17, 2025, Rippling filed a lawsuit in the Northern District of California, alleging that Deel orchestrated a scheme to infiltrate Rippling’s systems and steal confidential information. The lawsuit claims that Keith O’Brien, a former Rippling employee, was recruited by Deel’s CEO, Alex Bouaziz, to act as a corporate spy. O’Brien allegedly accessed sensitive data, including sales strategies and customer information, and funneled it to Deel. Rippling asserts that this espionage gave Deel an unfair competitive advantage.
Deel’s big service is SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) – a messaging system that runs on a network of financial institutions. It is used by thousands of banks worldwide to communicate information on financial transactions in a secure and standardized way.
When Deel first hit unicorn status, the company said in a blog post, “It’s such a special moment for us because we did it entirely remotely with a wild bunch of talented people from 30 different countries. That’s right, the global payroll solution built to help businesses hire anyone anywhere (and uses the product themselves) did it all while looking good on Zoom.”
