The Campbell’s Co. said Martin Bally has been put on leave while the investigation is ongoing
A former The Campbell’s Co. employee has accused vice president of information technology Martin Bally of making racist statements and ridiculing the company’s product in a lawsuit filed in Michigan court, reported the Associated Press.
In the suit seeking monetary damages from Campbell’s, Robert Garza claimed that Bally made the offending comments during a meeting to discuss Garza’s salary. Garza reportedly recorded audio from the meeting, which took place in November 2024.
Bally supposedly said Campbell’s food products were highly processed and catered to “poor people,” per a snippet of the suit published by AP News. Garza also alleged that Bally disparaged Indian workers by referring to them as “idiots.”
Garza claimed that Bally said he often took marijuana edibles before work. The ex-employee reportedly sought to report Bally to Campbell’s human resources department and informed his manager, J.D. Aupperle, of his intent on January 10.
Garza said Aupperle did not urge him to make the report but also did not guide him on how to approach the situation. On January 30, Garza was fired from the company.
In addition to Bally, Garza named Aupperle in his suit, claiming that both were behind his firing.
Campbell’s released a statement on Tuesday November 25 saying that it did not tolerate the language captured in Garza’s recording. It added that the comments supposedly originated from an IT department employee who “has nothing to do with how we make our food,” per a snippet of the statement published by AP News.
“The comments heard on the recording about our food are not only inaccurate — they are patently absurd,” the company said in the statement published by AP News.
Campbell’s said that Bally had been placed on leave while it investigated his alleged conduct.
The company’s headquarters are located in New Jersey. However, Garza’s suit was filed in Michigan as it is the state in which he and Bally reside, per AP News.
