Campbell Soup Executive Suspended After Racist Comments About Indian Employees Exposed in Lawsuit

Martin Bally is currently on leave as the company conducts an investigation.

A senior IT executive at an American company has been placed on leave following a lawsuit alleging he made disparaging remarks about the company's food being for "poor people" and containing "bioengineered meat". Martin Bally, Campbell's vice president and chief information officer, also allegedly made derogatory comments about Indian employees, referring to them as "idiots."

The lawsuit was filed by Robert Garza, a former cybersecurity analyst for the company, who claims he was terminated after trying to report Bally's comments to human resources. Garza alleges he was fired just 20 days after reporting Bally's racist and derogatory remarks to his manager, J.D. Aupperle. Garza subsequently provided an audio recording to the media that purportedly contains Bally's expletive-laden comments, which also included claims that he frequently came to work under the influence of marijuana edibles.

"We have s*** for f**king poor people," Martin Bally allegedly stated in the recording, as reported by Detroit-based news station WDIV. "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."

"Bioengineered meat — I don't wanna eat a piece of chicken that came from a 3D printer," he continued.

The allegations also include claims that Martin Bally made racist comments about Indian employees and expressed aversion to working with them.

"F---ing Indians don't know a f---ing thing. Like they couldn't think for their f---ing selves", the recording reportedly stated.

In response, Campbell's issued a statement describing the alleged comments as "unacceptable," "inaccurate," and "patently absurd". The company informed CBS News that the language does not reflect its values and that the alleged comments were made by an IT employee with no involvement in food production. The company also emphasized that it uses "100 percent real chicken in our soups", and takes pride in providing "good food at a good value" to consumers.

"If the comments were in fact made, they are unacceptable. They do not reflect our values and the culture of our company. We were not aware of the recording. We are proud of the food we make, the people who make it and the high-quality ingredients we use. The comments heard on the recording about our food are not only inaccurate — they are patently absurd," the company stated, adding that Bally is currently on leave while an investigation is conducted.

Garza, who filed the lawsuit, described Bally as having "no filter" and believing he's above the rules because of his executive position at a Fortune 500 company.

Who Is Martin Bally? Martin Bally is the Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer at The Campbell Soup Company, with over 23 years of experience in cybersecurity. He joined Campbell's in January 2022, bringing expertise from previous positions at American Axle & Manufacturing, Diebold Nixdorf, ZF Group, and Stellantis, where he served as Global CISO.

Bally holds a Master of Science in Information Assurance from Norwich University and studied business at Monroe County Community College. He has been recognized as one of the top 100 CISOs by Cyber Defense Magazine in 2020 and 2023.