Deel Sues Rippling for Defamation, Escalates Silicon Valley Feud

Deel Inc., a $12 billion Silicon Valley startup, is escalating a bitter legal fight with its top rival in the market for human resources and payroll software.

The company has filed a defamation lawsuit in Delaware state court against People Center Inc.’s Rippling for allegedly spreading lies about Deel to undermine its business. Rippling accused Deel last month in a separate suit in California of corporate espionage and misappropriation of trade secrets. Deel on Friday asked a federal judge to dismiss that case.

According to the Delaware suit, Rippling pressured an employee to tell the court a distorted ...