With input from the Verge, NBC News, CBS News, Bloomberg, and Business Insider.
Campbell Soup is in damage-control mode after a former employee sued the company, accusing a senior executive of making racist remarks about Indian workers and trashing Campbell’s own products as “highly processed food” for “poor people.”
The lawsuit, filed last week in Michigan, comes from Robert Garza, who was hired in September 2024 as a cybersecurity analyst. At the center of his complaint is Martin Bally, a vice president and chief information security officer at Campbell’s.
Garza says that during a November 2024 meeting to discuss his salary, Bally went on an expletive-filled rant about the company’s food and some of his coworkers — and that Garza recorded the conversation.
According to the lawsuit and audio described by multiple outlets, Bally allegedly:
- Called Campbell’s “highly processed food” for “poor people”;
- Referred to its meat as “bioengineered”;
- Said he didn’t want to eat “a piece of chicken that came from a 3D printer”;
- Called Indian workers “idiots” while complaining about a tech issue;
- Boasted about coming to work high on marijuana edibles.
At one point, the person on the recording reportedly says:
“If you look at our fucking pantry — we have shit for fucking poor people, right? I don’t buy fucking Campbell’s products barely anymore. It’s unhealthy.”
Garza says he reported the comments to his manager, J.D. Aupperle, on Jan. 10, telling him he wanted to go to human resources. According to the lawsuit, Aupperle didn’t encourage him to file a formal complaint or offer clear guidance.
On Jan. 30, Garza was fired. He claims that was retaliation for speaking up.
He’s suing Campbell’s, Bally, and Aupperle for alleged civil rights violations and retaliation, and is seeking money for emotional distress, reputational harm, lost wages, and attorneys’ fees. The lawsuit also says he suffered stress, humiliation, embarrassment, and mental anguish as a result of their actions.
Campbell’s says it only learned about the recording when it aired on Detroit’s WDIV and told reporters it hasn’t yet verified whether the audio is real.
Company spokesperson James Regan said Campbell’s didn’t know about the recording ahead of time and can’t confirm its authenticity.
Even so, the company moved quickly to put Bally on temporary leave while it investigates.
In a statement to multiple outlets, Campbell’s said:
- “If the comments were in fact made, they are unacceptable.”
- “Such language does not reflect our values and the culture of our company. We do not tolerate that kind of language under any circumstances.”
- The person in the recording “works in IT and has nothing to do with how we make our food.”
The company also blasted the claims about its ingredients as “patently absurd.”
Amid the uproar over “3D-printed chicken,” Campbell’s published a fact sheet insisting:
It does not use 3D-printed chicken;
It does not use lab-grown chicken;
It does not use any “artificial or bioengineered meat” in its soups.
Instead, Campbell’s says, its chicken comes from “long-trusted, USDA-approved US suppliers.”
The leaked audio and lawsuit quickly caught fire online, with the clip bouncing around social media and sparking conspiracy theories about what’s really in a can of soup.
The controversy even drew the attention of Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who posted on X that Florida’s Consumer Protection division is launching an investigation into Campbell’s products, noting that lab-grown meat is banned in the state.
Campbell’s, headquartered in New Jersey, now finds itself juggling:
A public relations mess over alleged insults to its own brand and customers;
A workplace discrimination and retaliation lawsuit;
And fresh scrutiny over its ingredients — even as it insists the comments came from someone who has “nothing to do” with the food side of the business.
Bally has not publicly commented on the allegations. Campbell’s says the investigation is ongoing.
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