Ice cream brand Ben & Jerry's says in a lawsuit filed Wednesday that parent company Unilever is silencing its attempts to show support for Palestinian refugees, dissolving its board of directors over the issue and suing its members. He said he threatened him.
The lawsuit is the latest sign of long-simmering tensions between Ben & Jerry's and consumer products maker Unilever.
A rift arose between the two after Ben & Jerry's announced it would do so in 2021. stop selling It did not sell its products in the Israeli-occupied West Bank because it did not align with its values, a move led by some Investors sell Unilever shares.
The ice cream maker then sued Unilever, accusing it of selling its Israeli operations to an Israeli licensee and allowing it to continue marketing in the West Bank and Israel. The lawsuit was settled in 2022.
Ben & Jerry's claims in a new lawsuit that Unilever violated the terms of its confidential 2022 settlement. But as part of the agreement, Unilever is required to “respect and acknowledge the primary responsibility of Ben & Jerry's independent board of directors to Ben & Jerry's social mission,” according to the lawsuit.
“On four separate occasions, Ben & Jerry's attempted to publicly voice support for peace and human rights,” the complaint says. “Unilever has been silent on each of these efforts.”
In response to the Reuters report, Unilever said in an email: “Our hearts go out to all the victims of the tragic events in the Middle East. We reject the claims of B&J's Social Mission Committee and will very vigorously defend our case.”
“We will not comment further on this legal matter,” it added.
In the lawsuit, Ben & Jerry's calls for a ceasefire, supports safe passage for Palestinian refugees to the UK, supports students protesting at US universities over civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip, and supports the US He said that he was trying to advocate for the suspension of military aid to Israel. However, it was blocked by Unilever.
The independent board of directors spoke separately about some of these topics, but the company was silenced, according to the complaint.
According to the complaint, Ben & Jerry's said Peter Ter Kulbe, Unilever's head of ice cream, had “continued perceptions of anti-Semitism” regarding the ice cream brand's views on Gaza refugees. He said he was concerned about this.
Under the settlement agreement, Unilever was required to pay Ben & Jerry's a total of $5 million to donate to human rights organizations of Ben & Jerry's' choosing, according to the complaint.
Ben & Jerry's selected the left-leaning Jewish Voice for Peace and the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, among others, according to the filing.
Unilever objected to the selection in August, saying Jewish Voice for Peace was “too critical of the Israeli government,” according to the complaint.
Ben & Jerry's has made its company socially conscious since 1978, when Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield founded the company in a converted gas station. After being acquired by Unilever in 2000, the company continued to uphold its mission.
Unilever announced in March that it would separate its ice cream business, including Ben & Jerry's, by the end of 2025 to simplify its holdings.
Unilever's dozens of products include Dove soap, Hellmann's mayonnaise, Knorr bouillon cubes, surf detergent, and petroleum jelly.
