What was the final settlement amount for the Ben-Ami and Spiegelman cases against Ben Jerrys?
Ben_Jerrys Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
claim under the Anti-Boycott law should have been raised in Homemade's response to the motion to certify the class action.
In June 2022, the parties in the Avi Avraham Zinger and American Quality Products Ltd. v. Ben & Jerry's Homemade, Inc., Unilever United States, Inc. and Conopco, Inc., case, described below, reached an agreement with regard to the distribution of Ben & Jerry's products in Israel and the disputed territories, thereby nullifying the Applicants' claims. In November 2022, the Applicants petitioned the court to withdraw their motion for approval of class certification and to order the dismissal of the individual claims of the Applicants pursuant to an agreement reached by the parties, and in December 2022, the Ben Ami Case and the
Source: Item 3 — LITIGATION (FDD pages 18–20)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Ben Jerrys's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, the Ben-Ami and Spiegelman cases were settled in December 2022 for a combined nominal amount of $25,000. This amount was to be split equally between the plaintiffs. Subsequently, the cases were dismissed. These cases originated from objections to Ben Jerrys's decision to cease selling products in disputed territories.
The initial claims in the Ben-Ami case sought an order to withdraw the announcement and included a personal claim of NIS 100 (approximately USD $30), with the class's total claim amounting to NIS 14,000,000 (approximately USD $4,307,690). Similarly, the Spiegelman case sought an injunction against discrimination in the disputed territories, with a personal claim of NIS 100 (approximately USD $30) and a total class claim of NIS 30,000,000 (approximately USD $9,230,770).
The fact that the final settlement was a nominal $25,000, significantly lower than the initial claims, suggests that Ben Jerrys likely had a strong legal position or that the plaintiffs' claims were weakened over time. For a prospective franchisee, this illustrates the importance of understanding the potential legal challenges and disputes that can arise from brand decisions, especially those related to social or political issues. It also highlights the potential for litigation to be resolved for amounts far less than the initial claims.
It's worth noting that the settlement was reached after the parties in a related case, Avi Avraham Zinger and American Quality Products Ltd. v. Ben & Jerry's Homemade, Inc., Unilever United States, Inc. and Conopco, Inc., reached an agreement regarding the distribution of Ben & Jerry's products in Israel and the disputed territories. This agreement effectively nullified the claims in the Ben-Ami and Spiegelman cases, paving the way for the nominal settlement. This demonstrates how interconnected legal matters can be and how resolving one dispute can impact others.