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Unilever ( UL ) said to challenge CEO Stever's views on mission

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Ben & Jerry's ( UL ) sued Unilever ( UL ) to preserve social activism

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Unilever ( UL ) not immediately available for comment

(Adds accusations, attempts to obtain comment, paragraphs 2-7)

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK, March 18 (Reuters) - Ben & Jerry's ( UL ) said its

parent, Unilever ( UL ), decided to oust the ice cream maker's

chief executive, Dave Stever, escalating a battle over the

subsidiary's independence on social policy issues.

In a Tuesday night filing in Manhattan federal court, Ben &

Jerry's ( UL ) said Unilever ( UL ) advised on March 3 it was removing Stever

without consulting directors because of his commitment to the

ice cream maker's social mission and brand integrity, not

because of concerns about his job performance.

It said Unilever ( UL ) chastised Stever in a January performance

review for "repeatedly acquiescing" to Ben & Jerry's ( UL ) promotion

of social goals, and has repeatedly warned personnel not to defy

its efforts to "silence the social mission."

Ben & Jerry's ( UL ) also said Unilever's ( UL ) attacks on its social

mission have reached "new levels of oppressiveness."

It said Unilever ( UL ) blocked it in February from honoring Black

History Month, and more recently from supporting the release

from detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a U.S. legal permanent

resident active in pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia

University and who the Trump administration wants to deport.

Unilever ( UL ) and its lawyers did not immediately respond to

requests for comment outside business hours. Ben & Jerry's ( UL ) and

its lawyers did not immediately respond to similar requests.

Stever was named chief executive in May 2023, having been

with Ben & Jerry's ( UL ) since being hired as a tour guide in 1988.

His current job status could not immediately be determined.

The new accusations came in Ben & Jerry's ( UL ) lawsuit seeking to

stop Unilever's ( UL ) alleged efforts to dismantle its independent

board and end its social activism.

They were included in a proposed amended complaint, which

Ben & Jerry's ( UL ) needs court permission to file.

Unilever ( UL ) had faced a Wednesday deadline to seek dismissal of

Ben & Jerry's ( UL ) earlier complaint.

Ben & Jerry's ( UL ) has had a socially conscious mission since its

1978 founding by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield.

Unilever ( UL ) bought Ben & Jerry's ( UL ) in 2000.

The companies have been at odds since 2021 when Ben &

Jerry's ( UL ) halted sales in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. That

business was later sold.

Many companies have retreated on social policies that Donald

Trump and other conservatives deem too liberal, as the U.S.

president seeks to reshape the federal government and parts of

corporate America.

Last month, Ben & Jerry's ( UL ) accused Unilever ( UL ) of unilaterally

banning it from publicly criticizing Trump, ostensibly because

of the "new dynamic."

Unilever ( UL ) plans to spin off Ben & Jerry's ( UL ), Breyers, Magnum

and other ice cream brands later this year.

The company is simplifying a portfolio whose dozens of other

brands include Dove, Hellmann's, Knorr, Surf and Vaseline.

The case is Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc v Unilever Plc ( UL ) et al,

U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No.

24-08641.