‘Sh-t for Poor People’: Campbell Soup VP Caught Spewing Racial Views About Co-workers in Voice Recording That’s Prompted Boycott, Piping-Hot Lawsuit
A senior executive at Campbell Soup Company who was caught disparaging its products as containing unhealthy mystery meat and said its customers are “f–king poor people” is now facing a lawsuit from a whistleblower employee who secretly recorded him and was later fired. So is the 155-year-old soup company.
Plaintiff Robert Garza had been a security analyst at the company since September 2024 when he met with Campbell’s Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer Martin Bally in November 2024, ostensibly to discuss his salary, according to the employment discrimination lawsuit filed in Wayne County Circuit Court in Michigan on Nov. 20, and obtained by Atlanta Black Star.
But Bally instead launched into a scathing critique of the company’s products, customers and employees, making racially offensive comments about Indian colleagues.
In Garza’s recording, broadcast in part by Local 4 News in Detroit, a speaker identified as Bally is heard saying, “We have s–t for f–king poor people. 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—k’s in it.”
Bally also referenced “bioengineered meat,” saying, “I don’t wanna eat a piece of chicken that came from a 3D printer.”
The hour and 15-minute recording also included what Garza said was a “disgusting” rant allegedly made by Bally about his coworkers: “F–king Indians don’t know a f–king thing,” and “Like they couldn’t think for their f–king selves,” it said in part.
The lawsuit says Bally claimed his Indian co-workers were “idiots” and expressed that he disliked working with them.
Bally also told Garza that he often came to work high from marijuana edibles, according to the complaint.
Garza kept the recording private for several weeks before reporting Bally’s remarks to his direct supervisor, J.D. Aupperle, director of cybersecurity operations, in January 2025, Newsweek reported. Aupperle gave him no direction on how to proceed, the lawsuit says, and did not encourage him to inform the company’s human resources department about Bally’s disturbing comments.
His attorney, Zachary Runyan, told Local 4 that Garza believed he was acting to protect co-workers who were the subjects of the alleged comments. “He was really sticking up for other people,” Runyan said.
According to the lawsuit, Garza was abruptly terminated on Jan. 30, 2025 — about 20 days after raising his concerns to management.
Runyan said Garza had no record of disciplinary action and had never been written up for performance issues.
Garza also told reporters that he received no follow-up from the company’s human resources department after submitting his complaint.
“They have a motto, ‘We treat our employees like family,’” Garza told Local 4. “That’s not the case.”
The lawsuit accuses Campbell Soup Company of maintaining a racially hostile work environment and retaliating against Garza for reporting racially discriminatory conduct. It asserts claims of employment discrimination and race-based retaliation under Michigan law.
Garza seeks damages that a court or jury “find to be fair and just” for economic damages as well as stress, humiliation, emotional damages and legal costs.
The defendants in the case — Campbell Soup Company, Bally, and Aupperle — have 21 days after being served with the lawsuit, or until mid-December, to file a response.
Campbell Soup Company issued a statement acknowledging the seriousness of the allegations.
“If accurate, the comments in the recording are unacceptable. They do not reflect our values and the culture of our company. We are actively investigating this matter,” the company said.
Since the recording became public, Campbell’s has faced instant skewering online for its perceived profiteering at the expense of food quality and for how it has treated an alleged whistleblower.
“If a company says we treat you like family, run!” wrote @Stephanie-vn6ir in response to the Local 4 story on YouTube.
“Wow. Well if someone who works there thinks the soup is so disgusting, I’m not going to buy it again,” posted @veronicajade20.
“Nearly all our food is no longer food. It’s fake,” replied @Mojo702.
“They really despise us, huh?” mused eight13 on Reddit.
Of the vice president’s crude comments, @Nyhiak noted on YouTube, “He’s right. Their soup is crap and poor people can only afford crappy food.”
“The disgusting part isn’t that some executive said these things; it’s that they’re true,” wrote @WallMeat89.