Campbell Soup Company has placed one of its senior technology executives, Martin Bally, on leave while it investigates a lawsuit alleging that he mocked the company’s products and customers and made racist remarks during a recorded conversation with a subordinate. The company said the alleged comments, if confirmed, are “unacceptable” and inconsistent with its corporate values and culture.
According to court filings, the lawsuit was brought by Robert Garza, a former cybersecurity employee who worked under Bally, the company’s vice president of information technology and chief information security figure. The complaint was filed in Michigan, where both men live, even though Campbell’s is headquartered in New Jersey, reflecting the fact that the alleged meeting took place there and the plaintiff is based in the state.
Lawsuit Describes Secret Audio And Derogatory Remarks
Garza alleges that he met Bally in November 2024 to discuss his pay and career prospects. During that meeting, which Garza says he secretly recorded, the executive allegedly described Campbell’s products as “highly processed” food intended for “poor people” and disparaged the health quality of the company’s offerings. Other reports citing the same recording say Bally went further, characterizing some soups as “3D-printed” or “bioengineered” meat, comments the company now publicly rejects.
The lawsuit states that Bally also made racist remarks about Indian employees, allegedly calling them “idiots” and suggesting they were less competent than other workers. Garza contends that, in the same conversation, the executive boasted about going to work while under the influence of marijuana edibles, saying he often showed up “high” despite his senior position overseeing information security.
Garza says he initially kept the recording to himself but decided to report the alleged misconduct internally in January 2025. On January 10, he told his manager, J.D. Aupperle, that he wanted to bring Bally’s comments to the attention of Campbell’s human resources department. According to the complaint, Aupperle did not encourage him to proceed and did not provide guidance on how to file a formal complaint, leaving the employee unsure how the company would respond.(Seek Your Sounds)
Termination Of Plaintiff And Company’s Official Response
Just weeks later, on January 30, 2025, Garza was dismissed from his role at Campbell’s. The lawsuit claims he had no significant prior disciplinary record and argues that the termination was an act of retaliation for raising concerns about discriminatory behavior and product disparagement by a senior executive. Garza is seeking monetary damages and has named Campbell Soup Company, Bally, and Aupperle as defendants, alleging wrongful termination and a racially hostile work environment.
In a statement responding to media questions, Campbell’s said that Bally has been placed on temporary leave while the company conducts an internal investigation into the allegations and the recording. The company stressed that, if the comments on the audio are authentic, they “do not reflect our values and the culture of our company” and that such language is not tolerated “under any circumstances.”
The company also emphasized that the executive at the center of the lawsuit works in information technology and “has nothing to do with how we make our food.” In its public statements, Campbell’s said it is “proud of the food we make, the people who make it and the high-quality ingredients we use”, insisting that the recording’s portrayal of its products is not only inaccurate but “patently absurd.”
Product Quality Questions And Regulatory Attention
The controversy comes as Campbell Soup Company confronts a flurry of questions about the safety and sourcing of its ingredients, triggered by the remarks attributed to Bally in the recording. In response, the company has issued detailed assurances that its soups do not contain 3D-printed, lab-grown, or other artificially engineered meats, and that its chicken is sourced from U.S. suppliers that comply with USDA standards. The company notes that, while some products contain genetically modified ingredients derived from crops such as corn and soy, it does not use “bioengineered meat” of the kind described in the lawsuit.
The dispute has already attracted political and regulatory interest beyond Michigan. Authorities in Florida, where a new law restricts lab-grown meat, have announced an inquiry into whether the allegations raised in the lawsuit have any basis in fact, despite Campbell’s repeated public denials that such technologies play any role in its production lines. At the same time, the case adds to a broader corporate risk landscape in which off-the-record comments by senior executives, captured on audio or video, can quickly escalate into national headlines, reputational damage, and complex employment litigation.
