According to a complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan on Tuesday, Unilever, accused of Ben & Jerry, fired the chief executive after allowing ice cream makers to speak out about political issues.
In the filing, Ben & Jerry said Unilever fired David Stever because of his commitment to the company's social mission, not because of work performance. He has been working as the top ice cream company since 2023.
“Unilever repeatedly threatened Ben & Jerry staff, including CEO David Stever.
Unilever told Ben and Jerry's boards on March 3 that it plans to remove and replace Steve as chief executive officers, Filing said. This was done without approval from the advisory board and opposed the agreements the two companies signed when the merger was merged in 2000, Ben & Jerry argued in submission. “It's better than Ben & Jerry's Unilever ice cream portfolio under Stever's tenure,” he added.
In 2024, sales of Ben & Jerry grew faster than Magnum, another of Unilever's leading ice cream brands, according to Unilever's presentation on its financial performance.
Under the acquisition agreement between the two companies, Unilever agreed to have Ben & Jerry maintain an independent board of directors to oversee the brand. This allowed Ben & Jerry to place “guardrails” in their social activities, giving the founder continued control of the company.
The revised complaints filed Tuesday were part of a lawsuit in November accused Ben & Jerry of condemning Unilever's threat to censorship and efforts to express support for Palestinian refugees.
The lawsuit allegedly attempted to stop Unilever taking certain political stances, including dismantling the independent committee of ice cream makers, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, and helping US students to protest civilian deaths on the territory and end U.S. military aid to Israel.
Unilever did not respond immediately to requests for comment. In a statement last year, he said he would strongly defend the lawsuit charges.
Ben & Jerry did not respond to requests for comment.
Unilever said in an email that the decision on the appointment and removal of Ben & Jerry's CEO under the merger agreement “will be made by Unilever after good faith consultation and discussion” with Ben & Jerry's Independent Committee.
“Unfortunately, despite repeated attempts to engage with the board and follow the correct process, we are disappointed that the confidentiality of our employees' career conversations has been made public,” the email said. “We hope that the B&J Independent Committee will be involved in accordance with the original agreed process.”
Ben & Jerry founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield have been openly talking about social issues for a long time. Tensions flare up in 2021 when Ben & Jerry said they would stop selling ice cream on Israeli territory.
In March 2024, Unilever announced plans to spin-off an ice cream unit that includes Ben & Jerry. The move is expected to be completed at the end of the year, and if successful, will end a rocky marriage between the two companies for 25 years, often for the sake of 2017.
