Campbell's fires executive for alleged racist rant, disparaging company
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Campbell's has fired an employee allegedly caught on tape slamming the company's products, it said on Wednesday.
The big picture: Campbell's had previously put information technology VP Martin Bally on leave after the emergence of the year-old audio, and after allegations he'd made racist comments about Indian employees.
Driving the news: The audio came out alongside a lawsuit from Robert Garza, a former Campbell's employee, against Bally and the company.
- The lawsuit alleges that Bally called Campbell's products "highly processed food" for "poor people."
- It also alleges that Bally "claimed that Indian workers were 'idiots' and expressed that he disliked working with them."
What they're saying: "After a review, we believe the voice on the recording is in fact Martin Bally," James F. Regan, Campbell's director of external communications, told Axios in a statement.
- "The comments were vulgar, offensive and false, and we apologize for the hurt they have caused," Regan said, adding that as of Tuesday, Bally is "no longer employed by the company."
- Attorney information for Bally was not immediately available. At least some of his social media profiles were locked as of Wednesday afternoon.
Campbell's said on Wednesday that it "learned of the litigation and first heard segments of the audio on November 20, 2025" and that "[n]either Mr. Garza nor his lawyer ever notified us of the existence of an audio recording."
- The lawsuit claims that Garza had informed his manager about Bally's comments, but was not given clear directions on how to proceed with a Human Resources complaint.
- The complaint alleges that Garza was "abruptly" fired later that month as retaliation for complaining about Bally's "racist behavior."
Garza's legal team declined to share any additional updates following their initial filing.
