
ADP Drops Lawsuit Against Human Resources Startup Zenefits - tim_sw
http://techcrunch.com/2015/10/27/adp-drops-lawsuit-against-human-resources-startup-zenefits/
======
vonklaus
the legal system is really complicated to an outsider[0]. lets look at these
two qoutes:

> The legacy payroll company ADP on Tuesday dropped its defamation lawsuit
> against ... competitor, Zenefits.

and this

> in a major victory for the startup, a U.S. District Court for the Northern
> District of California dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice

While I understand how appeals work, this does seem contradictory. ADP decided
to drop the lawsuit. ADP was told their case sucked and had it thrown out. I
understand how this works, but reading the title it looked like a voluntary
act, reading the article it looked like the only option. this was pretty much
gradeschool bullying and name calling sorted out by a very stern principal and
a few teachers who likely cost/charged millions in aggregate.

[0] while this is true of all systems, it seems to be a greater extent with
the law. which is fucked up, as everyone needs the law to be _more_ clear.

~~~
rayiner
As far as I can tell, the second quote from the article is incorrect. The
lawsuit was not dismissed with prejudice (which is a legal term that means the
judge issued a ruling dismissing the lawsuit without ability to re-file).

Instead, there was a hearing on Zenefit's motion to dismiss, the judge
indicated during the hearing that ADP's case wasn't going to fly, and ADP
"voluntarily" withdrew before the judge issued an official ruling dismissing
the case.

~~~
ascagnel_
It's also possible, but rare, for a judge to refuse a voluntary request to
withdraw a suit; typically, this is because the judge intends to rule to
dismiss with prejudice (they can't re-file). It's only really seen in states
with strong anti-SLAPP protections against lawsuits designed to bully rather
than resolve a grievance (hence the acronym, Strategic Lawsuit Against Public
Participation).

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rayiner
What is a "legacy payroll company?" As far as I can tell, ADP is online too.

~~~
myth_buster
I think the phrase is used in this context

    
    
      The dispute began in June when ADP, a 50-year-old payroll company,

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manigandham
Serious question: Is Zenefits providing much value for anyone here that uses
it?

~~~
BinaryIdiot
The start-up I'm at uses it. While I can't speak for the administrative side
of things as far as using it as an employee it's way easier than the typical
HR paperwork bullshit you have to do. Everything is in one place, all my
paperwork, insurance sign-up, direct deposit and employment agreement all
through one website. I had to print and fill out zero papers which that by
itself is such a relief at least for me.

~~~
jimmyjohns
Personally I value accuracy over speed when it comes to important legal docs.
Read too many horror stories about bad data entry with Zenefits to trust
things will get done right. Double the headache of a "legacy" provider if
these things are done incorrectly.

~~~
BinaryIdiot
Fair enough; I've read some of those stories but we haven't had an issue like
that as far as I know. Naturally you're going to hear the bad more frequently
than the good so I'm not convinced it's a huge problem but it's obviously an
issue.

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mikegirouard
There was a comment in the post from Scott Yates I found to be insightful.
Apparently he's a customer of both ADP and Zenefits and felt the effects first
hand.

[https://www.blogmutt.com/blog/adp-and-zenefits-end-their-
sil...](https://www.blogmutt.com/blog/adp-and-zenefits-end-their-silly-
lawsuits-is-peace-next)

I can't add more to the conversation, but I found it added another (more
interesting) angle to the situation.

~~~
scodtt
Thanks for the mention! I had a lot of fun writing that.

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eykanal
The article didn't make it clear... has Zenefits regained access to ADP's
systems?

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jimmyjohns
Zenefits feels like one of those Unicorns that will go poof. I find employee
satisfaction and turnover in startups to be important signs of the health of a
startup and Glassdoor reviews are terrible and turnover looks high via
LinkedIn

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maerF0x0
What a waste of money. Such gnashing of teeth over nothing. Now Zenefits
should drop ADP.

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javery
When this happened we ditched ADP for ZenPayroll - wasn't that hard. Now
ZenPayroll and Zenefits are fighting.

