© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Ben & Jerry’s, a model of Unilever, is seen on show in a retailer in Manhattan, New York Metropolis, U.S., March 24, 2022. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photograph
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By Jessica DiNapoli
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Ben & Jerry’s says mum or dad firm Unilever (NYSE:) Plc wrongly transferred model names out of attain of its unbiased board greater than 20 years in the past in an up to date lawsuit over its enterprise in Israel filed on Friday in federal courtroom.
The Vermont ice cream maker says that Unilever “covertly” moved its emblems to a Unilever enterprise unit in 2000 and 2001, a transfer that violated a merger settlement with the patron items conglomerate. The maker of Chubby Hubby ice cream solely realized concerning the transfer from latest courtroom filings, in keeping with the lawsuit.
Ben & Jerry’s initially filed the lawsuit in opposition to a Unilever subsidiary in July to attempt to block the sale of its enterprise in Israel and the West Financial institution to a neighborhood licensee, Avi Zinger.
The ice cream maker introduced final yr that it not wished to promote its merchandise within the occupied West Financial institution as a result of it was inconsistent with its values. Ben & Jerry’s merchandise have been on the market in Israel for many years.
A choose in August rejected Ben & Jerry’s bid to right away cease gross sales in Palestine, saying the producer didn’t present it could undergo irreparable hurt.
Within the up to date lawsuit filed late on Friday, Ben & Jerry’s added London-based Unilever as a defendant and stated it’s looking for damages and desires the emblems returned. The corporate additionally requested a choose to cease Zinger from promoting the ice cream within the West Financial institution.
Unilever has “actively tried to undermine” Ben & Jerry’s unbiased board by refusing to disburse income from the ice-cream maker to charities, eliminating jobs affecting product mission and advertising merchandise with out its approval, Ben & Jerry’s stated within the lawsuit.
The row with Ben & Jerry’s has been a check of Unilever’s dedication to giving its manufacturers a social goal.
When Unilever acquired Ben & Jerry’s greater than 20 years in the past, the ice cream maker, identified for its left-leaning politics, stored management of its social mission in a shareholder settlement which it says is now being eroded.
Unilever has stated it retained the correct to make operational choices for Ben & Jerry’s, and that the sale of the Israeli enterprise couldn’t be undone as a result of it has irrevocably closed.
