Ben & Jerry’s accused its parent company, Unilever, of unlawfully removing its CEO in retaliation for the ice cream brand’s social and political activism, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court.
The amended complaint, filed on March 18 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, states that Unilever informed the Ben & Jerry’s board on March 3 that it was removing and replacing CEO David Stever.
Ben & Jerry’s alleges this action violated its 2000 merger agreement with Unilever that mandates that any decision regarding the CEO must be made in consultation with an advisory committee from the company’s independent board, according to the amended complaint….