Campbell’s IT chief on leave after lawsuit claims he said company’s food is for ‘poor people’

Camden, New Jersey – Campbell said Tuesday it has placed one of its executives on leave while it investigates allegations that he made racist comments and mocked the company’s products and customers in an audio recording.

Martin Paley, Campbell’s vice president of information technology, was named in a lawsuit filed last week by Robert Garza, a former Campbell employee. The lawsuit was filed in Michigan, where the two men live. Campbell is headquartered in New Jersey.

In the lawsuit, Garza claimed he met with Pally in November 2024 to discuss his salary. During the meeting, which Garza allegedly recorded, Paley called Campbell’s food “highly processed food” and said it was intended for “poor people.”

Garza alleged that Bali made racist remarks about Indian workers, whom he called “idiots,” according to the lawsuit. Garza said Paley also told him that he often went to work high after ingesting marijuana.

Garza said he told his manager, J.D. Oberle, on January 10 that he wanted to report Paley’s comments to Campbell’s human resources department. Garza said Oberle discouraged him from reporting the comments, but did not give him any advice on how to proceed.

On January 30, Garza was fired from his job at Campbell. He is seeking monetary damages from Campbell. He also named Bally and Aupperle in the lawsuit, saying they were responsible for his termination.

Campbell said in her statement on Tuesday that if the comments on the audio recording were indeed made by Paley, they were inadmissible.

“Such language does not reflect our values ​​and company culture,” the company said. “We do not tolerate this type of language under any circumstances.”

Campbell added that the comments were allegedly made by someone who works in IT who “has nothing to do with the way we make our food.”

“We are proud of the food we make, the people who make it, and the high-quality ingredients we use to provide consumers with good food at a good value,” Campbell said. “The comments heard on the recording about our food are not only inaccurate, they are patently ridiculous.”