Suit: Campbell Exec Mocked the 'Poor,' Own Products

A Campbell Soup Company executive was caught on tape trashing the company's products, ridiculing the "poor people" who buy them, and making racist remarks about Indian colleagues, according to a lawsuit filed by a former employee. The suit, filed in Wayne County Circuit Court, claims that ex-cybersecurity analyst Robert Garza recorded Martin Bally, a company VP and its chief information security officer, during what was meant to be a routine conversation over salary, per the New York Post. Garza says he was fired in retaliation after reporting Bally's comments to management.

The recording, which reportedly lasted about an hour, allegedly includes Bally calling Campbell's products "s--- for f---ing poor people" and disparaging the company's ingredients, saying, "Bioengineered meat—I don't want to eat a piece of chicken that came from a 3D printer." Bally also allegedly said, "F---ing Indians don't know a f---ing thing," referring to Indian co-workers. In addition, Garza claims Bally admitted to coming to work high on marijuana edibles.

"He has no filter," Garza told Local 4. "He thinks he's a C-level executive at a Fortune 500 company and he can do whatever he wants because he's an executive." Campbell Soup Company says Bally has been put on temporary leave while an investigation is carried out, per CBS News. "The person alleged to be speaking on the recording works in IT and has nothing to do with how we make our food," a company statement asserts, adding that any derogatory claims about Campbell's food products heard in the recording are "patently absurd."

Garza says he was fired less than three weeks after reporting Bally's behavior, and that he'd received no follow-up from HR after registering his complaints, per the Post. The lawsuit alleges that the company allowed a racially hostile work environment and retaliated against Garza for reporting discrimination. Garza says it took him 10 months to find another job. "They have a motto: 'We treat you like family here at Campbell's—come work for us,'" Garza said. "That's not the case."