FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2026 filing

Ben & Jerry’s litigation history

What Ben & Jerry’s disclosed about lawsuits, arbitrations and bankruptcy in the 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document. Item 3 lists the material legal actions a franchisor must report; Item 4 covers bankruptcy. This is the franchisor's own disclosure, not a court record, and not legal advice.

Items 3 (litigation) & 4 (bankruptcy) at a glance

What the filing discloses

Cases disclosed: 7; Item 3, as counted in the filing

Largest settlement, franchisor's own cases: None stated

Bankruptcy (Item 4): None; Franchisor, parent, predecessor or officer

Filing year: 2026; Disclosures cover the prior ten years

Extracted from the 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document

Item 3: litigation

Item 3 discloses 8 distinct cases: (1) Class I Directors of Ben & Jerry's board (on behalf of Ben & Jerry's Homemade) v. Conopco/Unilever PLC/Ben & Jerry's Holdco/TMICC - breach of 2000 Acquisition Agreement and settlement agreement, pending; (2) Dana Hughes v. Homemade - CA Trap and Trace Law/TikTok tracking claim, pending; (3) Center for Environmental Health v. Aesop USA et al. (incl. Homemade) - CA Prop 65 BPS thermal paper claim, pending; (4) Mittal v. Unilever/TMICC/Senf - defamation/false light by former board chair, pending; (5) Dovid Tyrnauer v. Homemade - class action re: alleged migrant child labor supply chain, dismissed 2024; (6) Ido Ben-Ami v. Homemade (Israel) - anti-discrimination class action re: Israel/disputed territories, settled 2022 for $25,000 combined with Spiegelman case; (7) Rebecca Spiegelman v. Homemade (Israel) - same subject, settled jointly; (8) Avi Avraham Zinger/American Quality Products v. Homemade/Unilever US/Conopco - license termination dispute, settled 2022 via new business arrangement.

Item 3 (litigation) · 7 matters disclosed · 4 pending listed

Litigation cases

The franchisor and its predecessor

Pending (3)

Center for Environmental Health v. Aesop USA, Inc.
pending
Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc. · filed 2025-07-21 · Superior Court for the State of California, County of San Francisco · CGC-25-623997
“… Superior Court for the State of California, County of San Francisco, Case No. CGC-25-623997. On July 21, 2025, The Center for”Page 19 of the 2026 FDD, Item 3
Outcome: “Homemade is seeking dismissal of the complaint as it does not control the procurement of thermal receipt paper at any of its franchised locations. *** Mittal v. Unilever PLC, et”
Dana Hughes v. Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc.
pending
Brought by a third party · Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc. · filed 2025-01-15 · Superior Court for the State of California · 25STCV01128
“… Superior Court for the State of California, Case No. 25STCV01128. On January 15, 2025, Dana Hughes (“Plaintiff”) filed a complaint”Page 19 of the 2026 FDD, Item 3
Outcome: “Plaintiff filed a Request for Dismissal on October 29, 2025. A final ruling by the court is pending. *** Center for Environmental Health v. Aesop USA, Inc. Superior Court for”
Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc., Class I Directors of Ben & Jerry’s Independent Board v. Conopco, Inc. and Unilever PLC
pending
Brought by the franchisor · Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc. · filed 2024-11-13 · United States District Court for the Southern District of New York · 1.24-cv-08641-PKC
“… United States District Court for the Southern District of”Page 18 of the 2026 FDD, Item 3
Outcome: “On May 18, 2026, Defendants filed a motion to dismiss all but two narrow claims of the Fourth Amended Complaint; a ruling is not expected for several months from the date of” (page 19)

Concluded (3)

Dovid Tyrnauer v. Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc.
concluded
Brought by a third party · Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc. · filed 2023-03-03 · United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, White Plains Division; transferred to the United States District Court for the District of Vermont · 1:23-cv-01877; transferred to 2:23-cv-00299-cr
“… United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, White Plains Division, Case No. 1:23-cv-01877. On March 3,”Page 20 of the 2026 FDD, Item 3
Outcome: “Homemade filed a motion to dismiss Plaintiff’s First Amended Complaint and the Court granted this motion and dismissed the case on August 27, 2024. *** Ben-Ami and Spiegelman”
Avi Avraham Zinger and American Quality Products Ltd. v. Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc., Unilever United States, Inc. and Conopco, Inc.
concluded
Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc. · filed 2022-03-03 · United States District Court for the District of New Jersey · 22:22-cv-01154-KM-JBC
“… case, described below, reached an”Page 21 of the 2026 FDD, Item 3
Outcome: “In June 2022, the parties settled the case upon reaching a new business arrangement pursuant to which Ben & Jerry’s products will be sold under its Hebrew and Arabic names”
Ben-Ami and Spiegelman Class Action
concluded
Brought by a third party · Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc. · filed 2021-07-21 · Central District Court of Israel · 45950-07-21 and 46391-07-21
“… Ido Ben-Ami v. Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc., Class Action No. 45950-07-21 (Central Dist. Ct. of Israel), filed on July 21, 2021 (the “Ben-Ami”Page 20 of the 2026 FDD, Item 3
Outcome: “in December 2022, the Ben Ami Case and the Spiegelman Case were settled for a combined nominal amount of $25,000, to be split equally, and were subsequently dismissed. *** Avi” (page 21)

Parent, affiliates, master franchisor and subfranchisor

Pending (1)

Mittal v. Unilever PLC, et al.
pending
Unilever PLC and The Magnum Ice Cream Company N.V · filed 2026-03-26 · United States District Court for the Northern District of California · 4:26-cv-02660
“… United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Case No. 4:26-cv-02660. On March 26, 2026, Anuradha Mittal ( “Plaintiff”),”Page 19 of the 2026 FDD, Item 3
Outcome: “These complaints were only recently filed. As such, we anticipate that answers to the complaints containing denials of the allegations or a motion to dismiss soon will be filed.” (page 20)

Item 3 lists the litigation the franchisor must disclose; a matter against a parent, an affiliate or a named officer is not a matter against the franchisor, and pending claims are allegations, not findings.

Disclosure signals that moved the score

How this shows up in the verdict

Active litigation between independent board and Unilever creates governance uncertainty and potential strategic misalignment
Multiple settlements/disputes over social responsibility (Israel/West Bank, supply chain) create reputational risk and potential operational constraints

The verdict grade is FranchiseVerdict's editorial assessment across SBA loan performance, unit growth, revenue and disclosure signals. It is not investment advice.

Before you weigh a lawsuit

How to read Item 3

A franchisor must disclose pending actions and any material civil action involving the franchise relationship, plus convictions or civil judgments for fraud, unfair or deceptive practices, or franchise-law violations, going back ten years. A case the franchisor brought against a franchisee counts too. Item 3 does not include every dispute: settled claims below the materiality line and matters resolved in private arbitration can be absent.

Questions worth asking current and former franchisees, using the contact list in Item 20:

Were you, or anyone you know in the system, party to a dispute with the franchisor?
Was it resolved by settlement, arbitration or a court, and on what terms?
Has the number of disputes gone up or down since you signed?

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