Frosty Battle between Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever takes a new turn while the brand of ice cream claims that the ex-CEO was ousted on social activism

Ben & Jerry’s continues his parent company, Unilever, for having allegedly violated the terms of his merger agreement by ousting the director general of the ice cream brand on his left political activism.

In a modified complaint filed Tuesday evening in New York, the Vermont -based ice cream brand said that Unilever criticized the former managing director, David Stever, during his last annual performance review to “acquiesce several times (ING) to the requests of the independent Social Mission Board”.

The parent company then dismissed Mr. Stever – without the approval of an independent council – on its “commitment to the social mission of Ben & Jerry and the essential integrity of the brand” and not “real concerns concerning its performance history”, indicates the file. Ben & Jerry lawyers claim that such a decision violated a stipulation in its 2000 merger with Unilever who “protects Ben & Jerry’s interests by preventing the unilateral dismissal of his CEO”.

The deposit still accuses Unilever of blocking the brand of publishing a position linked to the month of the history of blacks and of carrying out its efforts to publicly support the anti-Israeli demonstrator who was recently arrested by immigration officials, Mahmoud Khalil. Ben & Jerry lawyers argue that Unilever’s “suppression” has reached “new overpressive levels of oppression – and irony”.

The deposit marks the last development of the long -standing conflict between the company Holding based in London and the brand of ice cream which, since its foundation in 1978, has praised a commitment to racial justice, LGBTQ rights, refugee rights, climate justice and other liberal questions. Ben & Jerry’s is known to present his progressive mission through flavors filled with words like “Imagine Whirlled Peace”, “Empower Mint”, “Change the Whirlled” and even “I paste” – which was launched in 2015 to celebrate the decision of marriage equality of the Supreme Court.

Unilever, who bought Ben & Jerry’s in 2000, agreed to allow the brand of ice cream to maintain its social mission, but stipulated that it would have the last word on issues relayed to operations and finance.

The relationship took an frozen turn in 2022 when Ben & Jerry’s tried to stop sales in the West Bank and East Jerusalem during a demonstration of the Israeli government which finally failed. After months of legal proceedings, Unilever and Ben & Jerry agreed with a regulation which ordered the parent company to respect the social mission and the integrity of the brand of the ice cream and “work in good faith with the independent council to ensure that the two are protected and prosecuted”.

Although the relationship continued to freeze and in November 2024, Ben & Jerry filed a complaint against Unilever for having allegedly silenced the brand of ice cream for publicly political questions like the war in Gaza. According to the file, Unilever has prohibited the company four times from calling “peace and a permanent and immediate ceasefire” in Gaza, expressing its support for anti-Israeli demonstrators on university campuses and approving the efforts of Senator Bernie Sanders to put an end to American military aid in Israel.

“Unilever has failed to recognize and respect the main responsibility of the independent council in the face of the social mission and the integrity of the Ben & Jerry brand, in particular by threatening the staff of Ben & Jerry if the company speaks concerning the problems that Unilever prefers to censor,” said the trial. “The Independent Council initiates this dispute to protect the mission in three parts of Ben & Jerry from Unilateral Erosion of Unilever and to protect the Society from the repeated survival offers of Unilever.”