The Campbell’s Company has fired an executive after he allegedly claimed the brand’s food was “for poor people” in a rant against its own products.
Martin Bally, the company’s vice president for information technology, was allegedly caught on tape by a former employee who had met with him to discuss his salary.
“We have s**t for f***ing poor people,” a man is heard saying in the leaked audio recording, shared by Click on Detroit. “Who buys our s**t?
“I don’t buy Campbell’s products barely anymore. It’s not healthy now that I know what the f***‘s in it. Bioengineered meat - I don’t wanna eat a piece of chicken that came from a 3-D printer.”
Campbell’s said having reviewed the audio clip, the company concluded it was Bally speaking and fired him Tuesday.
The recording is part of lawsuit filed by another former Campbell’s employee, Robert Garza.
In the lawsuit, Garza claimed he met with Bally in November 2024. During the meeting, Bally described Campbell’s as “highly process(ed) food” and said it was for “poor people”, the suit says.
Garza further claims Bally made racist remarks about Indian workers, whom he allegedly called “idiots”. He also claims Bally told him that he often went to work high after consuming marijuana edibles. Garza says he was fired January 30 after informing his supervisor about the incident.
“He reached out to his supervisor and told the supervisor what Martin was saying, and then out of nowhere, my client was fired,” Zachary Runyan, Garza’s attorney, told Click On Detroit. “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 he gets fired, which is ridiculous.”
Campbell’s said Wednesday it first learned of Garza’s lawsuit last week.
“The comments were vulgar, offensive and false, and we apologize for the hurt they have caused,” the company said in a statement. “This behavior does not reflect our values and the culture of our company, and we will not tolerate that kind of language under any circumstances.”
In the brand’s statement, Campbell’s confirmed that “Mr. Bally is no longer employed by the company” but claims that Garza never informed the firm about the existence of an audio recording before he made it public. Bally has yet to comment on the matter.
Campbell’s also defended its chicken, saying it comes from long-trusted U.S. suppliers, is raised without antibiotics and meets high quality standards.
“The chicken meat in our soups comes from long-trusted, USDA approved U.S. suppliers and meets our high quality standards,” a spokesperson for the company wrote. “All our soups are made with No Antibiotics Ever chicken meat. Any claims to the contrary are completely false.”
Garza is seeking monetary damages from Campbell’s, Bally and from his former manager, who remains employed by the company.
