Seek to keep platform open to Employment Hero amid market power lawsuit
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The news: Seek has agreed to temporarily keep its platform open to Employment Hero, days after the HR startup took it to court alleging misuse of market power.
The two were scheduled to meet in court Wednesday afternoon for a case management hearing, but that has been delayed with no updated date given.
An order filed by the Federal Court declares Seek will allow Employment Hero to integrate with its platform only for the duration of the trial. The court is hoping to make that timeline as short as possible, encouraging Employment Hero to "prosecute its claim for final relief... expeditiously."
The context: Employment Hero is a $2 billion HR startup that provides payroll, employee engagement and recruitment tools. It has for years integrated with Seek's job board as part of its recruitment and hiring services.
Seek told Employment Hero it would be severing the startup's access to its platform on August 25. Employment Hero last week filed a suit in Federal Court, alleging anticompetitive behaviour.
Seek is both a competitor to and investor in Employment Hero. Its venture arm invested in Employment Hero in 2018, while Employment Hero last year launched an AI-driven hiring tool called SmartMatch designed to compete with Seek.
What they said: Following Employment Hero's lawsuit, a spokesperson for Seek said: "Given there are now active legal proceedings, we will not comment on the substance of the allegations, beyond noting that we intend to defend them."
"At a more general level we note again what we have said in many strategy presentations: Seek operates in a highly competitive market with many competitors, from multi-nationals to start-ups, and believes that the vibrancy of competition generates innovation that is very beneficial for all customers."
An Employment Hero spokesperson said earlier this week: "Seek is a critical integration for many customers and our foremost priority is continuity and confidence for every employer. To this end, we have reluctantly commenced Federal Court proceedings to apply for an interim injunction with the aim of stopping the termination."
"We consider that the termination was a breach of the competition laws."
The source: Federal Court Order
