Campbell’s Co. said Wednesday it no longer employs an executive who was allegedly recorded criticizing the company’s food and making racist remarks.

Martin Bally, a vice president of information technology at Campbell’s, said the company’s products were highly processed food for “poor people” and referred to Indian co-workers as “idiots,” according to a lawsuit filed Nov. 20 by Robert Garza, a former Campbell’s employee, in Michigan’s Wayne County Circuit Court. The alleged comments were made during a meeting that Garza said he recorded.

“After a review, we believe the voice on the recording is in fact Martin Bally,” Campbell’s said in a statement Wednesday. “The comments were vulgar, offensive and false, and we apologize for the hurt they have caused.”

The company said Bally was no longer employed at Campbell’s as of Tuesday. It added that the comments don’t reflect Campbell’s values or culture and that kind of language won’t be tolerated.

Garza claimed Bally said Campbell’s soup contains “bioengineered meat” and that he didn’t want to eat “a piece of chicken that came from a 3-D printer,” Local 4 News in Detroit reported, citing a recording Garza said he made of a conversation with Bally. Campbell’s on Tuesday said that Bally had been placed on temporary leave while the company investigates the alleged comments.

Bally didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Garza was hired by Campbell’s as a cybersecurity analyst in September 2024, according to the lawsuit. Bally made the comments during a meeting in November 2024 to discuss Garza’s salary.

The lawsuit alleges Garza was fired in retaliation for reporting Bally’s comments to his manager. The case names Bally and Campbell’s as defendants and alleges violations of state civil rights law.

Campbell’s also released a fact sheet defending the quality of its ingredients, saying it does not use “3D-printed chicken, lab-grown chicken, or any form of artificial or bioengineered meat in our soup.”

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