Campbell employee fired after exposing exec who said product is for ‘poor people,’ suit alleges

Robert Garza is suing Campbell’s Soup, alleging that he was wrongfully terminated in January for reporting misconduct. 

A former Campbell’s Soup employee says he was pushed out of the company after trying to blow the whistle on what he describes as blatant misconduct by a high-ranking executive.

In a lawsuit filed Thursday, Nov. 20, in Wayne County (Mich.) Circuit Court, Robert Garza accuses Campbell Soup Company, vice president and chief information security officer Martin Bally, and supervisor J.D. Aupperle of fostering — and retaliating to protect — a racially hostile work environment, WDIV reports. 

Garza claims he witnessed racist remarks, heard an admission of drug use on the job, and faced swift punishment when he attempted to report it.

“He has no filter,” Garza said of Bally, describing him as someone who “thinks he’s a C-level executive at a Fortune 500 company, and he can do whatever he wants because he’s an executive.”

Garza began working remotely as a security analyst for Campbell’s Camden, New Jersey, headquarters in September 2024. According to the lawsuit, he recorded Bally during a meeting he initially believed would be about his salary. Instead, he alleges he sat through a shocking, hour-long tirade at a restaurant — remarks he later described as “disgusting.”

In the recording, Bally is heard belittling Campbell’s products and taking aim at Indian employees. At one point, he allegedly said the company produces “highly processed food” for “poor people,” adding, “Who buys our s—?… It’s not healthy now that I know what the f—’s in it.” He also disparaged Indian colleagues, saying, “F—ing Indians don’t know a f—ing thing… they couldn’t think for their f—ing selves,” according to the suit. Garza also alleges Bally boasted about showing up to work high off marijuana edibles.

Garza said he left the meeting feeling “pure disgust.”

He initially kept the recordings private. But by January 2025, he says he felt compelled to report what he’d heard and brought his concerns to his direct supervisor, Aupperle.

Garza’s attorney, Zachary Runyan, told WDIV that what happened next stunned his client. 

Runyan said Garza tried to stand up for coworkers, telling his supervisor that Bally’s comments about Indian employees and the people who buy the company’s food were unacceptable. 

“And then out of nowhere, my client was fired,” Runyan said.

Garza says the firing blindsided him, especially because he claims Bally had complimented his performance during the same conversation in which the rant was recorded.

The lawsuit asserts that Garza was terminated on Jan. 30, 2025, as retaliation for raising concerns about Bally’s behavior, and accuses the company of allowing a racially hostile workplace to flourish. Garza says he never heard back from Human Resources or anyone at Campbell’s after making the report. It took him nearly 10 months to find new employment, a process he describes as “simply terrible.”

Late Thursday, Campbell Soup Company issued a statement saying, “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.”

Campbell’s Soup, originally Anderson & Campbell, was founded in 1897 with the express goal of making canned goods more accessible and affordable for families. The company has gone on to become one of the most recognizable food brands in American Culture. When the artist Andy Warhol famously painted Campbell Soup cans — one of the most famous paintings in the history of American art — he did so in part because nearly everyone had a can of Campbell’s in their cabinet, making it a true symbol of American pop culture.