A summary from Reuters (Jonathan Stempel) Friday:
A federal judge on Friday dismissed major portions of a Ben & Jerry's lawsuit accusing its former parent Unilever of trying to silence the ice cream maker's social activism, dismantle its board and stop funding its namesake foundation…. Ben & Jerry's accused Unilever of violating the 2000 merger agreement by censoring its speech, which has included protests against the war in Gaza, and ousting a chief executive who supported the company's social activism. The alleged censorship also included an effort to suppress planned criticism of U.S. President Donald Trump as he began his second White House term….
Unilever denied censoring Ben & Jerry's and said the former chief executive voluntarily resigned.
Castel said the merger agreement's "plain meaning" did not afford Ben & Jerry's Class I directors and the Ben & Jerry's Foundation a right to sue on behalf of the company, including on the appointment and removal of directors.
There's also an accusation that Unilever "violat[ed] a 2022 settlement over the sale of Ben & Jerry's trademark rights in Israel, by failing to pay $2.5 million to Ben & Jerry's and $2 million to support Palestinian almond farmers"; the parties "agreed that claims over the missed payments could proceed for now."
