NEW YORK--Ben & Jerry's accused its parent company, Unilever, of deciding to oust the ice cream maker's chief executive Dave Stever because he let it speak out on social policy issues, escalating a battle over the subsidiary's independence.
In a Tuesday night filing in Manhattan federal court, Ben & Jerry's said Unilever advised on March 3 it was "removing and replacing" Stever without the required approval from its board, after repeatedly threatening personnel if they did not comply with the parent's "efforts to silence the social mission."
It said this violated an agreement the companies signed in 2000 when London-based Unilever bought Ben & Jerry's.
Stever became chief executive in May 2023, and has been with the Vermont-based maker of Cherry Garcia since starting as a tour guide in 1988.Ben & Jerry's sued Unilever in November to stop alleged efforts to dismantle its board and end its progressive social activism, which has included protesting the war in Gaza, supporting a movement to defund police, and attempting to criticize U.S. President Donald Trump.
The latest accusations were made in a proposed amended complaint, which Ben & Jerry's needs court permission to file.Unilever fired back on Wednesday afternoon, seeking a dismissal of Ben & Jerry's earlier complaint.
It said it supports Ben & Jerry's and its social advocacy work, but the social mission has evolved into advocacy for "one-sided, highly controversial, and polarizing topics that put Unilever, B&J's, and their employees at risk."
According to Unilever, the change was driven by Ben & Jerry's Chair Anuradha Mittal and began in 2021, when the company decided to stop selling ice cream in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. That business was later sold.
