Miyoko Schinner is planning to file a lawsuit in her ongoing dispute with the vegan cheese and butter company she founded, according to a statement from her attorney.
“I am proud to represent Miyoko Schinner in this important fight for justice for her, and for all women founders,” said Lisa Bloom of The Bloom Firm, who said she has filed to appear as Schinner's attorney in federal court.
In the statement, Bloom described the situation as a “wrongful termination case,” and said Schinner alleges that she was mistreated at the company because of her gender.
Schinner was ousted as CEO last June, which the company reportedly had announced internally but only made public this year. She remains chairman of the company's seven-member board of directors. At the same time it announced her departure publicly, it also filed a lawsuit against her alleging that she stole information and property from the company after she was terminated as CEO, in violation of a confidentiality agreement.
“The company's behavior in forcing her out of the company she created and built, then trashing her via an outrageously malicious and misleading lawsuit will be met with facts and witnesses showing that Miyoko's own complaints of toxic and sexist behavior by certain male executives were swept under the rug, and then she was demoted and fired,” Bloom said in the statement. “We will be filing our own claims soon. We thank everyone for the tidal waves of support and love for Miyoko, and assure all of her fans that we will not rest until we achieve full and complete justice for her.”
Neither Bloom nor Miyoko's Creamery could be reached for further comment.
According to reports, some board members were dissatisfied with Schinner's performance as CEO, which led them to force her out of day-to-day operations.
Michele Simon, who Schinner appointed to the board of directors at Miyoko's Creamery in February, said the board was not unanimous in its decision to announce Schinner's ouster and file a lawsuit against her.
“It was a shock to see a lawsuit being filed against this revered icon of vegan food,” she told SFA News Daily. “There was a deliberate one-two punch strategy here for certain board members to go public with what is essentially an ongoing dispute [over her termination as CEO], and then to file a lawsuit the same day. It was all part of a deliberate strategy to malign Miyoko's reputation.”
The Sonoma, California-based company issued an announcement on Feb. 16 stating that it had “parted ways” with Schinner as its CEO, and that it had engaged an executive search firm, Heidrick & Struggles, “to fill the open seat with a highly qualified, passionate and mission-driven leader, ready to take the company into its next stage of growth.”
The company said Jon Blair, chief financial officer, was named interim president “to guide this transition.”
On the same day, Miyoko's Creamery filed a lawsuit against Schinner accusing her of stealing trade secrets and seeking to use them to launch a competing company. The suit includes photos that it says appear to show Schinner removing cheese cultures from the property, according to reports, and alleges that she failed to repay a $112,500 loan.
In a statement on her LinkedIn page, Schinner said she has been cooperative with the company since her termination last June.
“I am shocked that certain board members have decided to file a lawsuit against me,” she said. “There are wild untruths about me that are designed to destroy me and get me out of the way. I fail to see how this is adding value to the brand that I — and other values-driven, passionate vegan former employees — worked so hard to build.”
Schinner founded Miyoko's Creamery in 2014 after a long career in the vegan industry as a chef, restaurateur, cooking instructor, and cookbook author. She began pursuing plant-based alternatives to traditional dairy products for personal health reasons, she told the Specialty Food Association in 2019 when she received an SFA Business Leadership Award. She has become one of the plant-based industry's leading advocates, championing not only the health benefits of a plant-based diet, but also animal welfare and protecting the environment.
Simon, who said she was inspired by Schinner to launch the Plant Based Foods Association, in an email statement encouraged Schinner's supporters to speak out on social media, and not to boycott the company.
Related: Renewal Mill, Miyoko's Creamery Team Up on Upcycled Cookie.