11/25/2025
“A former employee of the Campbell’s Company has sued the Camden-based food giant, alleging he was fired for reporting that a company vice president had made racist comments about co-workers and disparaged Campbell’s products.
Robert Garza, who worked as a cybersecurity analyst for the company, alleged in the lawsuit filed last week in Michigan that Martin Bally, a vice president and chief information security officer, made the comments during a November 2024 meeting that the complaint said was intended for a discussion of Garza’s salary.
Bally “made several racist comments about Indian workers at the company,” the complaint said.
Bally also told Garza that Campbell’s products were highly processed food for “poor people,” according to the lawsuit.
In an interview Garza did last week with WDIV, an NBC affiliate in Detroit, he said that he secretly recorded audio of the meeting, which occurred at a restaurant. The TV broadcast played some portions of the recording.
The audio recording is not mentioned in the lawsuit. It is legal in Michigan for one party in a conversation to make a recording without the consent of the other party.
Bally, the vice president, could not be reached for comment on Monday.
Zachary Runyon, Garza’s attorney, was unavailable for comment.
In recorded excerpts included in the TV report, the person in the recording, alleged to be Bally, says: “We have s— for f— poor people.” The person then says they rarely buy Campbell’s products because they’re unhealthy.”
