Keith O’Brien, an employee who quit Deel, has recently leveled some explosive accusations, amounting to harassment and intimidation. Moore and his wife still live in fear for their safety. According to O’Brien, the events surrounding his alleged espionage actions have irreparably injured him and his family. He calls the impact catastrophic, violating their humanity and in turn their spirit and psyche.
In April, O’Brien made a startling confession, alleging that he was engaged in espionage for Deel, a company that once utilized Rippling’s services. His announcements have sent shockwaves through the tech industry. They expose the cut-throat competitive nature of the two companies. This antagonism boiled over after Deel started selling competing products to Rippling.
Things turned south almost immediately. An Irish judge recently granted O’Brien a temporary restraining order against a group of unknown males he claims have been stalking him. O’Brien wrote movingly of his efforts to shake his pursuers. He began taking unexpected left turns and driving in circles on the way home to try to shake off a black SUV. The SUV kept coming back into his rearview mirror.
O’Brien’s affidavit sounds like the plot of a real-life, action-packed drama. He divulges that he was being compensated €5,000 per month to pilfer Rippling’s proprietary data, which exposed sensitive information about its product stack and clientele. On the day he was arrested, he had reportedly just attempted to flush his phone down a corporate toilet. He then allegedly broke the device into pieces and buried them at his mother-in-law’s residence.
Prayers are certainly in order as O’Brien and his wife carry the terrible emotional weight of these incidents. They feel that fear acutely, because they have four young children to protect.
“We have been experiencing anxiety at home and in public. It has affected our sleep and our concentration,” – O’Brien
The judge who granted the injunction agreed as a matter of law. He likened it to a shootout in an old 1970s cops and robbers TV drama. This apples to oranges comparison, though, highlights just how off-the-rails O’Brien’s tale is and the extravagant measures he took to mask his wrongdoing.
As this drama plays out on the global stage, the technology community is looking on with great interest, curious to see how this rivalry will continue to play out. O’Brien’s tale helps clarify the cutthroat dog-eat-dog world within the tech industry. At the same time, it reveals the human toll that can come as a byproduct of corporate spying.
