Campbell Soup Company, the company that makes the popular soup in the United States, announced that a multi-million-strong company has fired an executive who was recorded criticizing the company’s food and making racist comments. Martin Paley, Campbell’s vice president of information technology, said the products the company made were highly processed food “for the poor” and referred to his North American Indian business partners as “idiots,” according to a motion filed Nov. 20 by Robert Garza, representing Campbell, in a Wayne County Circuit Court in Michigan.
The comments were made during a meeting that Garza claimed was recorded. “After review, we believe the voice on the recording is, of course, that of Martin Paley,” Campbell announced in a statement at the time. “The comments were vulgar, offensive and false, and we apologize for the harm caused.”
Bali has ceased operations at Campbell’s El Martes, the company said. He acknowledged that the comments did not reflect the values of Campbell’s culture and that this type of language would not be tolerated. Garza said Paley said Campbell’s soup contained “biomodified meat” and that he didn’t want to eat “a bunch of chicken made with a 3D printer,” Detroit’s Local 4 News reported, citing a recording Garza said he overheard of a conversation with Paley. Campbell had previously said that Bally’s had been temporarily suspended while the company investigated the pork comments. Bali did not respond to requests for comment.
According to the request, Garza was hired by Campbell as a cybersecurity analyst in September 2024. Paley heard comments during a meeting in November 2024 to talk about Garza’s salary.
The suit alleges that Garza was fired in retaliation for reporting Paley’s comments to his manager. The case accuses Paley and Campbell and alleges violations of the state’s civil rights law.
Campbell’s also published a media report outlining the quality of its ingredients, noting that it does not use “3D-printed pollen, lab-grown pollen, or any type of artificial or bioengineered meat in our soups.”