It’s not quite as exciting about Clinton and Obama. But a potentially messy fight is brewing between two leading HR software vendors. What’s it mean for you?

On Wednesday, performance management vendor SuccessFactors, Inc., sued Softscape, Inc., one of its top competitors. The charge? Sending e-mails lying about the company and its products.

The e-mails contained a PowerPoint presentation with allegations of SuccessFactors’ lack of integrity and broken promises to its customers. It was sent anonymously to a number of SuccessFactors clients and claimed to be from a former customer. SuccessFactors says it was created and distributed by Softscape.

Softscape seems to not be denying that they did the deed, but they responded by calling the lawsuit a “frivolous public relations tactic.”

What’s it mean for HR? Brian Sommer of the Software Safari blog says we probably shouldn’t read too much into the spat if it’s just an isolated case. Questionable sales tactics aren’t anything new.

But it is another reminder that you can’t believe everything a vendor tells you.