Ben & Jerry’s former independent chair Anuradha Mittal was “abusive, discriminatory and unprofessional” and fostered a toxic culture before she stepped down from the board earlier this year, according to a legal filing by Magnum Ice Cream Company.
In one instance, Mittal said she did not need “white bi—– on the board” and also called a former director a “white bi—,” the owner of Ben & Jerry’s said in the document filed with a New York court on Sept. 4.
These counterclaims accompany Magnum’s legal defense against allegations that it wrongfully removed Ben & Jerry’s independent board directors from their roles, and failed to honor an agreement resolving the dispute over the sale of Ben & Jerry’s intellectual property rights in Israel.
Under the terms of Unilever’s 2000 acquisition of Ben & Jerry’s, the ice cream brand retained an independent board in charge of its social mission.
The relationship between the company and the board has become fractious since 2021 when a disagreement over sales of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream in the West Bank sparked a wider confrontation over the brand’s social direction. The dispute upset some US investors including Nelson Peltz, whose Trian Fund Management holds a stake of about 3.7% in Magnum.
Earlier this year, six of eight board members including Mittal stepped down after Magnum introduced retroactive term limits and a new code of conduct. Ben & Jerry’s co-founders Jerry Greenfield and Ben Cohen have backed the independent members and also criticized Magnum, which was spun out of Unilever Plc last year and listed in Amsterdam. Greenfield resigned in protest after 47 years last September and Cohen has accused Magnum of destroying the brand.
Read More: Ben & Jerry’s Co-Founder Says Brand Being ‘Destroyed’ by Magnum
In August, a federal judge dismissed large parts of the independent board members’ complaint, including claims that Magnum tried to censor Ben & Jerry’s stance on progressive issues and silence Mittal. Through its counterclaim, Magnum is now seeking to show that Mittal breached her fiduciary duties to Ben & Jerry’s and Magnum.
In response, a legal representative for Mittal accused Magnum of resorting to strong-arm tactics.
“After ousting Ben & Jerry’s CEO (a thirty-plus year employee who began as a tour guide), causing one co-founder Jerry Greenfield to resign, galvanizing another co-founder Ben Cohen to start a campaign to ‘free’ the company, and attempting to remove each of the independent directors from the company’s board, Magnum has now intensified its pressure tactics against Ben & Jerry’s Chairwoman Mittal, including regurgitating allegations that Unilever executives had previously denounced as nothing more than extreme personal slander,” her counsel said in a written statement.
“Magnum’s campaign to intimidate, threaten, and character assassinate Chair Mittal due to her advocacy for Palestinian human rights — to the great displeasure of Nelson Peltz — is outlined in her active defamation lawsuit,” the statement added.
Peltz’s Trian declined to comment.
Magnum says Mittal not only created a toxic “us versus them” sentiment at Ben & Jerry’s but also accused her of inappropriately benefiting from her role. It says she appointed friends to the board over independent candidates and channeled around $350,000 from the Ben & Jerry’s foundation, funded by Unilever and later Magnum, to The Oakland Institute, a nonprofit organization she founded.
Photo: Tubs of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream in a store freezer in London, UK. Photographer: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg
Topics Leadership
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