Overview
- Former employee Robert Garza filed a Wayne County lawsuit alleging retaliation after he reported a recorded meeting in which VP and CISO Martin Bally disparaged products and customers and used racist language toward Indian colleagues.
- In the audio provided to Detroit’s WDIV, a speaker identified as Bally criticizes Campbell’s ingredients, references “bioengineered” or 3D‑printed chicken, and says he sometimes came to work after consuming marijuana edibles.
- Campbell Soup placed Bally on temporary leave and opened an internal investigation after portions of the roughly 75‑minute recording aired.
- The company rejected the product assertions as false, saying it uses 100% real chicken from long‑trusted, USDA‑approved suppliers and noting the alleged speaker works in IT, not food production.
- Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said his consumer-protection division is seeking answers from Campbell over the lab‑grown meat claim under the state’s restrictions on such products.