Campbell Soup Company is currently embroiled in controversy following allegations that a former employee secretly recorded a vice president disparaging the company’s products and customers.
Robert Garza from Michigan has taken legal action against Campbell’s, filing a lawsuit on Thursday. He also released an audio recording that he claims features remarks made by Martin Bally, a Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer at Campbell’s. Portions of this recording were aired by Detroit’s Local 4 News.
In the recording, a voice identified as Bally’s can be heard making derogatory statements about the company’s offerings, stating: “We have stuff for poor people. Who buys our stuff? I barely buy Campbell’s products anymore. It’s not healthy now that I know what’s in it.”
The speaker also mentioned “bioengineered meat,” expressing a reluctance to “eat a piece of chicken that came from a 3D printer.” While such bioengineered foods are permissible for sale in the United States, regulations mandate that companies must clearly label these products.
Campbell’s has acknowledged that certain ingredients like canola, corn, soybean, and sugar beet are derived from genetically modified seeds. However, the company has not clarified if the meats used in their soups are sourced from lab-grown animal cells.
A spokesperson for Campbell Soup Company addressed the situation, telling the Daily Mail, “We are proud of the food we produce, the dedicated individuals behind it, and the high-quality ingredients we use. The comments in the recording are not only inaccurate but also completely absurd.”
‘Keep in mind, the alleged comments are made by an IT person, who has nothing to do with how we make our food. If the recording is legitimate, the comments are unacceptable. They do not reflect our values and the culture of our company.’
‘Mr Bally is temporarily on leave while we conduct an investigation.’
Campbell’s is being sued by a former employee for ‘disgusting’ remarks he said were made by the company’s vice president
Robert Garza, from Michigan , filed a lawsuit against Campbell’s on Thursday. The suit claims Garza went to his supervisor to raise concerns about the remarks, but was filed a few weeks later
Daily Mail has contacted Bally for comment.
The recording has made waves online, catching the attention of Florida’s Attorney General James Uthmeier, who posted on X on Monday: ‘Florida law bans lab-grown meat.
‘Our Consumer Protection division is launching an investigation and will demand answers from Campbell’s.’
Garza, who began working remotely for the company in September 2024, said he met Bally at a restaurant in or around November 2024, hoping to discuss his salary, according to the lawsuit seen by Daily Mail.
However, Garza claimed that Bally went into an hour-long rant, allegedly slamming everything from the company’s products to employees, customers and also made racist comments about Campbell’s Indian staff members, according to the lawsuit.
Bally has been employed at Campbell’s since January 2022.
The recording lasted longer than an hour and 15 minutes and included what Garza said was a ‘disgusting’ rant about his coworkers, Local News 4 reported.
‘F***ing Indians don’t know a f***ing thing,’ the person in the recording said. ‘Like they couldn’t think for their f***ing selves,’ the person who identified as Bally said in part.
The recording alleges statements from Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer Martin Bally, who has now been put on leave while Campbell’s conducts an invetigation
Garza told Local News 4 that he went to his supervisor in January 2025 to report what he claimed Bally said during the meeting.
The lawsuit states: ‘On or about January 30, 2025, Plaintiff was abruptly terminated from employment.
‘Upon information and belief, Defendant [the supervisor] and Bally were responsible for Plaintiff’s termination.’
As a result of the termination, the lawsuit claims Garza has suffered, and is expected to continue suffering, stress, humiliation, embarrassment, outrage, mental anguish, denial of social pleasures, fear, mortification, emotional harm, as well as economic and non-economic damages, attorney fees and costs and additional damages that may be uncovered during litigation.
‘He reached out to his supervisor and told the supervisor what Martin was saying, and then out of nowhere, my client was fired,’ Runyan told Local News 4.
‘He was really sticking up for other people. He went to his boss and said, ‘Martin is saying this about Indian coworkers we have, he’s saying this about people who buy our food — who keep our company open, and I don’t think that should be allowed.’ And the response to Robert sticking up for other people is that he gets fired, which is ridiculous.’
Runyan also told Local News that Garza ‘had never had any disciplinary action, they had never written him up for work performance.’
The lawsuit alleges that Garza was terminated on January 30, 2025, as retaliation for speaking out about Bally’s conduct, and accuses Campbell’s of fostering a racially toxic workplace.
‘They have a motto: ‘We treat you like family here at Campbell’s — come work for us,’ Garza told Local News 4. ‘We treat our employees like family.’ That’s not the case.’
