Ben & Jerry’s has sued its guardian firm Unilever accusing it of silencing the ice cream maker from making statements in help of Palestinians within the Gaza battle.
The grievance, filed Wednesday in federal court docket in New York, says the multinational conglomerate has failed to stick to its contractural obligations with Ben & Jerry’s by threatening to dismantle the corporate’s impartial board, sue board members, intimidate personnel and censor the corporate “from publicly voicing help for peace and refugee rights,” the lawsuit states.
London-based Unilever stated in a press release that it rejects the claims made by Ben & Jerry’s social mission board. “We are going to defend our case very strongly,” it stated.
Unilever acquired Ben & Jerry’s, a longtime supporter of progressive social causes, in 2000 however distanced itself from the ice cream maker’s resolution in 2021 to halt gross sales in Israeli settlements within the occupied West Financial institution and contested east Jerusalem.
When Ben & Jerry’s was offered, the businesses agreed that the ice cream maker’s impartial board could be free to pursue its social mission, together with longstanding help for liberal causes on things like racial justice, local weather motion, LGBTQ rights and marketing campaign finance reform. However Unilever would have the ultimate phrase on monetary and operational choices.
Unilever then introduced in July 2022 that it was promoting its curiosity within the Vermont ice cream maker to its Israeli licensee, which might market Ben & Jerry’s merchandise with Hebrew and Arabic labels in east Jerusalem and the occupied West Financial institution. Ben & Jerry’s tried to dam the plan in court docket however failed.
After months of negotiations, Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever entered right into a settlement settlement, by which Unilever should respect the board’s duty over the ice cream maker’s social mission and model integrity, and “work in good religion with the Impartial Board to make sure that each are protected and furthered,” the lawsuit states.
Ben & Jerry’s has been muzzled by Unilever in 4 makes an attempt to talk out publicly in opposition to the battle in Gaza with calls “for peace and a everlasting and rapid ceasefire,” help for U.S. faculty college students protesting the battle and for the tip of U.S. navy help to Israel, the lawsuit states.
“Unilever has repeatedly failed to acknowledge and respect the Impartial Board’s major duty over Ben & Jerry’s Social Mission and Model Integrity, together with threatening Ben & Jerry’s personnel ought to the corporate converse concerning points which Unilever prefers to censor,” the ice cream maker stated within the lawsuit. “The Impartial Board initiates this litigation to guard Ben & Jerry’s three-part mission from Unilever’s unilateral erosion and to safeguard the corporate from Unilever’s repeated overreaches.”
In March, Unilever introduced that it was slicing 7,500 jobs and spinning off its ice cream enterprise to cut back prices and enhance income.
