A Campbell’s Soup Company executive has been temporarily suspended after allegedly calling the company’s products “crap for poor people,” a comment that was allegedly recorded and attributed to him as part of a former employee’s wrongful termination lawsuit, the newspaper reports. Caretaker.
The lawsuit was filed last Thursday in Wayne County, Michigan, court by Robert Garza, who joined Campbell’s New Jersey office in September 2024 as a security analyst.
Caretaker adds that Garza claims he was fired in January after expressing concern about comments made by Martin Bally, Campbell’s vice president of information technology, that included referring to one of the company’s ingredients as “bioengineered meat” during a racist rant. The lawsuit reports that Garza met with Bally in November 2024 to discuss his salary.
However, Garza claims the meeting turned into an hour-long tirade by Bally, during which he disparaged the quality of Campbell’s products and customers, made racist comments about Indian employees and admitted to coming to work under the influence of marijuana edibles.
In audio recordings captured by Garza after sensing that “something was wrong,” which were later reviewed by Michigan media outlet WDIV, a voice can be heard saying, “We got shit for the fucking poor.”
The voice adds: “Who buys our shit? I hardly buy Campbell’s products anymore. It’s not healthy now that I know what’s in it… GMO meat.” “I don’t want to eat a piece of chicken that came out of a 3D printer.”
Presumably referring to Campbell’s employees of Indian origin, the voice continued: “Those damn Indians don’t know shit… Like they can’t think for themselves.”
Garza says he felt “pure disgust” after the encounter, but kept the recording private until January, when he reported Bally’s behavior to his supervisor, J.P. Aupperle, according to WDIV. Garza claims he was fired from Campbell’s 20 days later, without any prior disciplinary action being imposed.
According to Garza’s attorney, Zachary Runyan, who spoke to WDIV, the plaintiff was “defending other people” before his firing.
“He went to his boss and said, ‘Martin is saying this about our Indian colleagues, he’s saying this about the people who buy our food, who keep our business open, and I don’t think this should be allowed,’” Runyan told the news network. “And the response to Robert standing up for other people is to get him fired, which is ridiculous.”
Garza’s lawsuit alleges retaliatory firing and claims the company maintained a racially hostile work environment. He also claims that neither Campbell nor his human resources department followed up on his complaint against Bally, leaving him unemployed for 10 months.
Campbell said he was investigating the allegations and had temporarily suspended Bally. He added: “If true, the comments in the recording would be unacceptable. They do not reflect our values or our corporate culture.”
Meanwhile, in a statement to Newsweekanother Campbell spokesperson denied that the meat used had been bioengineered. “We use 100% real chicken in our soups,” the company spokesperson said. “The chicken meat comes from trusted suppliers, approved by the US Department of Agriculture and meets our high quality standards. All of our soups are made with antibiotic-free chicken meat.” “Any statement to the contrary is completely false.”
Bally has not commented publicly on the lawsuit, which names him, Aupperle and the company itself as defendants.
