Ben & Jerry’s has accused Unilever of ousting its chief executive in an effort to “silence” the ice cream maker’s political activism and criticism of Donald Trump.
In court documents filed in New York, Ben & Jerry’s said its parent company Unilever had decided to remove Dave Stever, its chief executive, over his outspoken approach to political and social issues, rather than performance.
It said: “Unilever has repeatedly threatened Ben & Jerry’s personnel, including chief executive David Stever, should they fail to comply with Unilever’s efforts to silence the social mission.”
Ben & Jerry’s claimed Peter ter Kulve, Unilever’s group president for ice cream, barred the ice cream maker from publishing a post on Inauguration Day “because it specifically mentioned ‘Donald Trump’”, as well as preventing it from publishing a post that marked commemorating Black History Month.
Unilever was also accused of “chastising” Mr Stever in his annual performance review for “repeatedly acquiescing” to the brand’s social purpose, and attempted to force the independent board of the ice cream maker “into rubber-stamping the decision by unilaterally dictating artificial and hasty deadlines”.
Ben & Jerry’s has been owned by Unilever since 2000, when it was acquired in a $326m (£251m) deal. However, written into the deal was an agreement that Ben & Jerry’s would be managed by an independent board, effectively ring-fencing its ability to speak out on political and social issues.
It is not clear whether or not Mr Stever remains with Ben & Jerry’s. He was first hired by Ben & Jerry’s in 1988 as a tour guide before becoming chief executive in 2023.
Pioneer of woke business
Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever have been locked in a legal dispute since last November, when Ben & Jerry’s sued the consumer goods giant accusing it of attempting to silence the brand on Israel’s war in Gaza.
The lawsuit comes amid a retreat on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes across corporate America in the wake of Mr Trump’s announced a clampdown on “woke” DEI policies.
Founded by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield in 1978, Ben & Jerry’s is widely considered a pioneer of socially conscious business, and has been outspoken on issues such as refugees’ rights, LGBTQ+ issues, and climate change.
Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, co-founders of Ben & Jerry’s, handed out free ice cream to encourage people to vote for Kamala Harris in the Novemeber US election – Lisa Lake/Getty Images
This approach has repeatedly resulted in conflict with its parent company, which it has clashed with over its stance on Israel-Palestine conflict.
Ben & Jerry’s halted sales of its ice cream in the West Bank in 2021, saying it was “inconsistent with our values for our product to be present within an internationally recognised illegal occupation”.
This spurred Unilever to sell the Israeli ice cream business, igniting a legal battle between it and Ben & Jerry’s that was later resolved.
Last month it was reported that Mr Cohen and Mr Greenfield were considering buying the brand back from Unilever.
Unilever did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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