By Alyssa Lukpat

Campbell's said it placed an executive on temporary leave after he was allegedly caught on tape saying the company made "highly processed food" for "poor people."

The company defended the ingredients it uses in its products and said it was investigating the allegations against Martin Bally, its vice president of information technology.

"Campbell's soups are made with real chicken. Period," the company said.

Former Campbell's cybersecurity analyst Robert Garza filed a lawsuit against the company and accused Bally of making racist comments and disparaging Campbell's products in a secretly recorded meeting.

"If the comments heard on the audio recording were in fact made by Mr. Bally, they are unacceptable," the company said. "Such language does not reflect our values and the culture of our company."

Based in Camden, N.J., Campbell's is best known for its canned soup offerings. The company's popular chicken noodle soup typically costs between $1 and $2 a can at grocery stores.

Garza said he has suffered stress and mental anguish since meeting with Bally last year. In the lawsuit filed last week in Wayne County, Mich., where Bally lives, Garza outlined how a meeting intended to be about salary got derailed.

Garza said Bally called Campbell's food highly processed and said it was for poor people. Garza also accused Bally of disparaging Indian co-workers, calling them "idiots," and saying he didn't like working with them.

Garza, who had only worked at Campbell's for a few months, reported the comments to his manager, according to the lawsuit. Garza said he was fired about three weeks later. He believes Bally and his former manager were behind the termination, according to the lawsuit.

"The situation has been very hard on Robert," a lawyer for Garza said Tuesday.

Garza, of Monroe County, Mich., sued Campbell's, Bally and his former manager for violating his civil rights. He said they retaliated after he complained about racial discrimination and harassment. He is seeking payment for damages including legal fees, according to the lawsuit.

Bally describes himself on LinkedIn as a leader and mentor. He has worked in information security for several companies, according to his profile.

Campbell's defended its food products.

"Keep in mind, the alleged comments heard on the audio were made by a person in IT, who has nothing to do with how we make our food," the company said Tuesday.

Campbell's released a fact sheet about its chicken which said the company doesn't use 3D-printed chicken, lab-grown chicken or any form of artificial or bioengineered meat in its soups.

Write to Alyssa Lukpat at alyssa.lukpat@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 25, 2025 21:37 ET (02:37 GMT)

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