Campbell's exec fired following 'offensive' comments as brand apologises
Topics: US Food
Britt Jones
Featured Image Credit: Ken James/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Topics: US Food
A Campbell's company executive has been sacked after his negative views about his own company’s products came to light.
Martin Bally, the company’s vice president of information technology, was terminated from his post following his November 2024 comments that were outed by former employee, Robert Garza.
The ex-cybersecurity analyst at the company filed a lawsuit in Michigan earlier this month, where he alleged Bally had made derogatory comments about Indian workers and said the products were 'for poor people' during a meeting about his salary.
Garza claimed in his suit that Bally went on a rant about the products, stating in a recorded conversation: “We have s*** for f****** poor people. Who buys our s***? I don’t buy Campbell’s products barely anymore. It’s not healthy now that I know what the f***‘s in it.
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“Bioengineered meat - I don’t wanna eat a piece of chicken that came from a 3D printer.”
According to Garza, he told his manager, J.D. Aupperle, about the comments and was not encouraged to report them, according to WDIV.
Garza claims he was suddenly fired weeks later and alleged in his 20 November suit that he was unfairly fired in January when he had been calling out what he believed was bad behaviour in the workplace.
Since the case came to light, Campbell’s Co. issued a statement and an apology on behalf of the comments made by Bally.
The Campbell's Co. said in a statement, which was sent by Campbell's Director of External Communications James Regan to FOODbible, that ‘after a review, we believe the voice on the recording is in fact Martin Bally.’
It added: “The comments were vulgar, offensive and false, and we apologize for the hurt they have caused. 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. As of November 25, Mr. Bally is no longer employed by the company."
The company said it had not heard the recording until the court case, stating: "Neither Mr. Garza nor his lawyer ever notified us of the existence of an audio recording."
It was also forced to address claims Bally made about its product, saying: "The chicken meat in our soups comes from long-trusted, USDA-approved U.S. suppliers and meets our high quality standards. All our soups are made with No Antibiotics Ever chicken meat. Any claims to the contrary are completely false."