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A former employee is pursuing a legal claim against Campbell's Soup Company, alleging the business dismissed him for reporting racist and demeaning comments from a senior leader.
Robert Garza, who lives in Monroe, Michigan, began working remotely as a security analyst for the company’s Camden, New Jersey headquarters in September 2024.
He says the turning point came during a December 2024 restaurant meeting about his compensation. Garza expected a routine discussion with Martin Bally, Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer. Instead, he says he sat through an hour-long tirade that he later described as leaving him feeling sick.
Recorded remarks spark complaint
The lawsuit filed in Wayne County Circuit Court says Garza recorded more than an hour and 15 minutes of remarks. The filing claims Bally attacked the company’s products, mocked its customers and made racist comments about Indian employees. “We have s**t for f***ing poor people. Who buys our s**t? I don’t buy Campbell’s products barely anymore,” Bally allegedly said, adding, “Bioengineered meat - I don’t wanna eat a piece of chicken that came from a 3-D printer.”
According to the complaint, Bally also referred to Indian colleagues as “idiots” who “couldn’t think for their f***ing selves.” Garza alleges Bally went on to say he regularly came to work high from marijuana edibles.
“He has no filter,” Garza said. “He thinks he’s a C-level executive at a Fortune 500 company and he can do whatever he wants because he’s an executive.”
Terminated after report to supervisor
Garza kept the recording for several weeks. He said he felt “pure disgust” and needed time to understand what he had heard. He ultimately reported the comments in January 2025 to his direct supervisor, J.D. Aupperle, citing the racist remarks about co-workers as his main concern.
“He was really sticking up for other people,” said Garza’s attorney, Zachary Runyan. “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.’”
Garza says he received no follow-up from human resources or anyone else at the company. He was dismissed 20 days later on Jan. 30, 2025. Runyan says Garza had never been disciplined. “He had never had any disciplinary action, they had never written him up for work performance,” Runyan said.
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Company response
The lawsuit accuses Campbell Soup Company of allowing a racially hostile environment and retaliating against Garza’s report. He says the company’s public messaging contrasts with his experience. “They have a motto: ‘We treat you like family here at Campbell’s - come work for us,’” he said. “‘We treat our employees like family.’ That’s not the case.”
In a statement, Campbell Soup Company said: “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.”
Garza called the company’s handling of the issue “simply terrible.”
