Deel, a global payroll and compliance platform, is now formally willing to accept service of process. The move comes after a successful lawsuit launched by HR technology company Rippling which challenged the regulation. Hayes Solicitors, Deel’s Irish law firm, helped broker the settlement. This move comes after Rippling’s unsuccessful efforts to personally serve top Deel executives including CEO Alex Bouaziz, Chief Legal Officer Asif Malik, and counsel Andrea David Mieli.
On April 15, Bouaziz was in Dubai, where he apparently spent only a few days in order to return in time for Passover. Although Deel did not comment for this story, he refused to say where he was at the time when asked. In the meantime, Mieli, who lives and works from home outside of Italy, has proven nearly impossible to contact. Rippling further said in an affidavit that service on Mieli in Italy has proven fruitless.
Rippling has been trying mightily to serve legal papers on Bouaziz, Malik, and Mieli. They have taken aim at countries including France and Italy. The new agreement with Hayes Solicitors further allows the Irish law firm to accept service on behalf of all four defendants in the case. This includes Deel’s countersuit, which was filed last week on American soil.
Deel’s countersuit claims that Rippling has trained an insider at Deel to abscond with trade secrets. Parker Conrad, CEO of Rippling, downplayed the severity of the allegations by saying,
“Nowhere does Deel dispute our central allegation – that @Bouazizalex personally recruited a spy to steal Rippling’s trade secrets, and personally directed the theft.”
Ripple’s spokesperson replied, scorching Rippling’s assertions. They criticized the narrative as misleading during the continued legal dispute and claims of service dodging.
“It’s a misrepresentation that anyone was avoiding service and that narrative was clearly being used as a public smear tactic,” said the spokesperson.
The deal with Hayes Solicitors represents a huge development in the ongoing legal battle between the two firms. After we received confirmation from Deel’s spokesperson that Deel had accepted service of the complaint,
“Today in court in Dublin Hayes Solicitors agreed to accept service on behalf of all four parties,” the spokesperson confirmed.
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