Ben & Jerry's alleges its CEO was fired by Unilever because of his political views

Ben & Jerry's accused parent company Unilever of violating the merger agreement between the two with the firing of the ice cream company's CEO, David Stever, for disagreement with the latter's political views and the radical left-wing activism promoted by the company in its campaigns.

This is the latest chapter of the confrontation between both companies, which have been in court since 2021. Last Tuesday, Ben & Jerry's lawyers filed an amended complaint in a New York court claiming that Unilever violated rules stemming from their 2000 merger, which protected the ice cream brand's interests, by ousting and replacing Stever without board approval.

Violation of the merger agreements

The lawsuit adds that Unilever's real motive for removing Stever was due to his "commitment to Ben & Jerry's social mission and the essential integrity of the brand ... rather than any genuine concern about his performance record."

To justify this point, Ben & Jerry's exposed several attempts by Unilever to "try to silence" the ice cream brand on social media. It recalled that last January, Unilever "unilaterally banned" a post that referred to abortion, climate change and universal healthcare because it mentioned President Donald Trump.

Disagreements over post with left-wing activism

This attitude, according to Ben & Jerry's, continued in recent weeks when the company was banned from uploading a post about Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian refugee whose green card was revoked for his participation in demonstrations last year at Columbia University in New York and who remains in ICE custody.

The post on X would have included a link to the ACLU's petition for his release, but it was not published, and Unilever "gave no explanation for the censorship." Another post that was allegedly stopped from being published was one about the celebration of Black History Month in February.