An Irish payroll manager who is alleged to have passed trade secrets of his US-headquartered human resources company to a rival firm is co-operating with efforts to recover information sought as part of an investigation, the Commercial Court heard.
Last week, Keith O’Brien told the court he had destroyed a phone a judge had ordered him to preserve.
On Monday, Mr Justice Mark Sanfey was told Mr O’Brien was now co-operating with efforts to recover the information on his devices and it may lead to the resolution of legal moves to force him to hand over the devices.
US HR firm People Centre, trading as Rippling, has claimed that Mr O’Brien, with an address at Ringfort Avenue, Balrothery, north Co Dublin, was placed in their company by rival firm Deel in order to unlawfully obtain its trade secrets.
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Last Wednesday, Mr O’Brien came before the judge and said he destroyed a mobile phone sought by Rippling the previous week after interim court orders were granted requiring him to hand over his devices.
He apologised to the court, stating that he understood what he did was wrong. “I was under complete duress,” he said, “[my] mental state ... over the last few days has been absolutely horrific”.
The US Rippling, and its Irish wing, Rippling Ireland Ltd, had sought several orders including that Mr O’Brien be compelled to provide full details of any of the company’s confidential information communicated by him since October 2024 to any third parties and the identities of any such parties.
It also sought orders restraining the sharing of such information and requiring its return.
Following an incident in which Mr O’Brien allegedly disappeared when a court-appointed supervising solicitor turned up at the Rippling offices to ask him to hand over his devices, the company sought further orders against him which meant he could be jailed if he failed to turn up in court and answer alleged contempt for breach of the court orders.
He appeared in person last Wednesday and the matter was adjourned for a week to allow him get legal representation.
On Monday, a separate application to admit the Rippling proceedings to the fast-track Commercial Court was adjourned for a week.
Marcus Dowling SC, for Rippling, said Mr O’Brien had been in contact with the supervising solicitor appointed by the court when it made orders that he hand over the devices and there had been “significant progress”.
He was to meet the supervising solicitor on Tuesday and it was hoped events will overtake the need for further orders, counsel said.
It was possible, he said, that there may be a resolution of the matters before the end of week.
The judge said that while he was glad to hear Mr O’Brien was co-operating, he noted there were “significant difficulties on Mr O’Brien’s part on a personal level”.
Mr O’Brien still had an obligation to purge his contempt so the judge said he would put the matter back for a week and vacate another adjournment date that had been put in for this Thursday.
He also agreed to a request from Mr Dowling to extend the orders requiring him to hand over the devices until the case comes back next week.
