Seek alleges Employment Hero misused data to solicit new customers: reports
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The news: Employment Hero has been accused of stealing Seek candidate details from its classifieds platform to attract jobseekers into joining the startup’s own offering, as the two companies fought for market dominance.
The context: In an escalation of an extended legal dispute between the firms launched by Employment Hero in July, which accused Seek of engaging in anticompetitive conduct, new court documents seen by The Australian allege that Employment Hero misused personal information in breach of the terms of use Seek’s API tool.
Employment Hero had argued that Seek cut off the HR startup's access to the tool that had allowed its customers to post directly onto the job platform.
Seek has now told the court that it discovered Employment Hero’s improper use of its data last August, and that “Seek also considered that Employment Hero was misusing its access to the Seek API as a means of expanding its own database of potential candidates to improperly enhance its ability to compete with Seek,” the AFR reported.
Seek alleges that Employment Hero emailed candidates after they had applied to jobs advertised on Seek, directing them to sign up to an Employment Hero app called ‘Swag’ in order for the company’s hiring manager to contact them. It also prompted applicants to sign up for Swag to check the status of their application, the AFR added.
The Australian reported that the alleged breach occurred at a time when both companies were exploring a closer partnership, however, “By mid-2024, despite the limited nature of its online jobs board offering, Employment Hero had started to position itself publicly as a direct competitor of Seek,” Seek’s defence documents allege. Seek added that discussions with Employment Hero about a joint venture broke down in about August 2024.
Employment Hero is a $2 billion HR startup that provides payroll, employee engagement and recruitment tools, and had integrated with Seek's job board as part of its recruitment and hiring services for a number of years.
In July, Seek told Employment Hero it would be severing the startup's access to its platform on August 25. Employment Hero responded by filing a suit in Federal Court, alleging anticompetitive behaviour.
The sources: The Australian, AFR
