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The Israeli producer and distributor of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream has filed for a right away court-ordered injunction to maintain its license settlement with the ice cream maker and its dad or mum firm, Unilever, throughout an ongoing courtroom case.
Avi Zinger and his firm, American High quality Merchandise (AQP), filed the formal movement with the US District Courtroom for the District of New Jersey, his attorneys stated on Monday.
Zinger and AQP sued Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever within the courtroom earlier this month, claiming the businesses unlawfully terminated their enterprise relationship, after boycotting gross sales within the West Financial institution final yr. The settlement is about to run out on the finish of 2022.
The brand new injunction seeks to forestall Unilever and Ben & Jerry’s from terminating their license settlement with AQP earlier than the plaintiff’s claims are resolved. It might permit AQP to proceed manufacturing and distributing Ben & Jerry’s ice cream in Israel and Israeli-controlled areas.
Unilever’s response to the injunction is due on April 4, and the courtroom will hear oral arguments on April 18.
The movement argues that Unilever will trigger AQP “irreparable damage” with out an injunction, will presumably hurt others, and go in opposition to the general public curiosity, all authorized necessities for injunctive aid.
The plaintiffs say the boycott announcement has severely harmed AQP’s gross sales, precipitated upheaval in its enterprise, and threatens it with “whole destruction.”
The injunction request additionally says ending the enterprise settlement threatens AQP’s numerous workforce of 169 staff with unemployment.
It says that Unilever will endure nearly no unwell results if the enterprise settlement ends throughout litigation, noting that the conglomerate continues to promote different merchandise, together with Strauss ice cream, in Israel and the West Financial institution.
The plaintiffs say the injunction will serve the general public curiosity by benefiting shoppers, holding authorized compliance for all events within the US and Israel and deterring related instances of corporations performing in unhealthy religion.
Final summer time, Ben & Jerry’s introduced that it’s going to now not promote its merchandise within the “Occupied Palestinian Territory,” apparently referring to West Financial institution settlements and East Jerusalem.
AQP refused to conform, saying the transfer was unlawful in Israel and the US, so Ben & Jerry’s stated it is not going to renew the Israeli licensee’s settlement on the finish of 2022 — successfully ending the enterprise relationship.
The boycott announcement got here after a heavy stress marketing campaign from anti-Israel and progressive activists. The choice sparked uproar in Israel and amongst some US Jewish teams, a lot of whom referred to as it antisemitic, because the firm has no boycotts in opposition to some other space of the world.
The lawsuit filed earlier this month requests {that a} US federal courtroom deem Unilever’s transfer unlawful, and allow AQP to maintain promoting Ben & Jerry’s merchandise all through Israel and the West Financial institution. It additionally seeks a jury trial and damages.
The lawsuit argues that the boycott of the West Financial institution violates US and Israeli regulation, and that since there isn’t a authorized mechanism to proceed enterprise whereas violating these legal guidelines, the transfer quantities to an unlawful boycott of the whole Jewish state.
The corporate additionally violated a number of US legal guidelines that block anti-Israel boycotts, plus quite a few state legal guidelines, the lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit alleges Unilever directed AQP to violate two Israeli legal guidelines: a non-discrimination regulation, which features a ban on discrimination based mostly on residence and native land; and a regulation prohibiting a boycott in opposition to Israel, or an space beneath Israeli management.
The agency filed the lawsuit within the US District Courtroom of New Jersey, the state the place Unilever’s American department is headquartered. It was additionally filed in opposition to Conopco, Inc., one other US department of Unilever, a UK-based multinational.
The Ben & Jerry’s West Financial institution boycott has precipitated a headache for Unilever and heavy repercussions. A minimum of six US states divested a complete of a whole bunch of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} from Unilever as a result of the transfer violated anti-boycott legal guidelines. The corporate’s inventory has dropped 25 % because the announcement, whereas the broader market is at practically the identical stage.
Critics of the West Financial institution boycott be aware that Ben & Jerry’s sells merchandise to states with atrocious human rights information, together with Russia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran, and China. The corporate additionally sells in different disputed territories together with Tibet, Crimea, Western Sahara, and Kashmir.
Supporters of the boycott Israel motion say that in urging companies, artists, and universities to sever ties with Israel, they’re utilizing nonviolent means to oppose unjust insurance policies towards Palestinians. Israel says the motion masks its motives to delegitimize or destroy the Jewish state.
Zinger and AQP are represented attorneys from the Louis D. Brandeis Middle for Human Rights Below Legislation Greenberg, Dauber, Epstein and Tucker; Lewin and Lewin, LLP; and Zell, Aron & Co.
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