(Bloomberg) -- Ben & Jerry's is renewing its effort to unwind a contentious decision by parent company Unilever Plc to sell the ice-cream business in Israel.
The Vermont-based ice-cream maker will confirm as early as Tuesday that it plans to file a revised complaint in New York federal court in the coming weeks, said two people familiar with the matter. Ben & Jerry's independent board wants to stop Unilever's sale of its brand and trademark to local licensee Avi Zinger as the deal allows the ice cream to be sold in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The board, which first sued its corporate parent in early July, argues that the sale conflicts with Ben & Jerry's long-held “core values” and breaches a legal agreement made when Unilever bought the brand in 2000.
The move comes two weeks after US District Judge Andrew L. Carter Jr. denied Ben & Jerry's request for an injunction to block the sale, saying the brand failed to show that it would suffer irreparable harm if the deal wasn't blocked.
Read More: Ben & Jerry's Loses Bid to Block Ice Cream's Sale in West Bank
The litigation follows a controversy last year when Ben & Jerry's, which has a history of publicly embracing socially progressive causes, announced it would halt sales in the occupied West Bank, citing human rights concerns. This triggered a backlash from the Israeli government, which formed a “special task force” to pressure the company to reverse the decision.
Following the furore, Unilever decided to sell the Israel division of Ben & Jerry's. The consumer goods giant, which sells many other food and personal products throughout Israel, argued that the 2000 agreement did not give Ben & Jerry's the power to challenge the deal, which closed in June.
Last month, Chief Executive Alan Jope said the brand shouldn't stray into geopolitics with plenty “to get their teeth into on their social justice mission.”
Read More: Unilever Urges Ben & Jerry's to Avoid Political Rows
Ben & Jerry's independent board is continuing litigation as it has a responsibility to prevent the degradation of the brand's social mission that has been “forty-plus years in the making,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “We will not allow our principles to be compromised for our parent company's profits.”
“Unilever's feigned ignorance of the independent board's authority over Ben & Jerry's social mission stands in stark contrast with the explicit language of the merger agreement,” Ben & Jerry's attorney Shahmeer Halepota said in an emailed statement.
A spokesman for Unilever declined to comment.
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