New York: A high-ranking IT executive at an American company has been placed on leave after a lawsuit was filed alleging he made derogatory comments about the company's food being for "poor people" and containing "bioengineered meat". Martin Bally, Campbell vice president and chief information officer, also made derogatory comments about Indian employees, calling them "idiots."
The lawsuit was filed by Robert Garza, a former cybersecurity analyst for the company, who claims he was terminated after attempting to report Bally's comments to human resources. He claimed was fired just 20 days after reporting Bally's racist and derogatory comments to his manager, J.D. Aupperle. Garza then provided an audio recording to the media that allegedly contains Bally's expletive-filled remarks, which also included claims that he often came to work high after consuming marijuana edibles.
There are also allegations that Martin Bally made racist comments about Indian employees, and expressed dislike for working with them.
"F---ing Indians don't know a f---ing thing. Like they couldn't think for their f---ing selves," the recording said in part.
In response, Campbell's issued a statement calling the alleged comments "unacceptable," "inaccurate," and "patently absurd". The company told CBS News that the language does not reflect its values and that the alleged comments were made by an IT employee with no involvement in food production.
"If the comments were in fact made, they are unacceptable. They do not reflect our values and the culture of our company. We were not aware of the recording. We are proud of the food we make, the people who make it and the high-quality ingredients we use. The comments heard on the recording about our food are not only inaccurate — they are patently absurd," the company said, adding that Bally is currently on leave as it conducts an investigation.
