Martin Valley, Vice President of Information Security, Dismissed
Campbell, the well-known American canned soup manufacturer, has fired an executive who sparked controversy by making disparaging remarks that characterized the company's consumers as being from low-income groups.
According to the Associated Press and other outlets last month, Martin Valley, Vice President of Information Security at Campbell, referred to Campbell's soup products as "highly processed food for the poor" during a salary discussion with cybersecurity analyst Robert Garza in November of last year.
Furthermore, Garza claimed that Valley made racist remarks by calling Indian workers "idiots" and admitted to coming to work under the influence of marijuana on several occasions.
Garza raised these issues internally, but after being notified of his own dismissal, he recently filed a lawsuit seeking damages against the company and others.
After the release of an audio recording containing the problematic remarks led to public backlash, Campbell stated that the voice was believed to be Valley's and announced his termination.
In a statement, Campbell said, "These comments are crude, offensive, and false, and we apologize for the hurt they have caused. Such behavior does not reflect our company's values or culture, and we do not tolerate this kind of language under any circumstances."
The controversy has intensified after a local Detroit broadcaster interviewed Garza and released additional portions of the audio recording. According to the broadcast, Valley referred to "meat made with biotechnology" and said, "I don't want to eat a single piece of chicken that comes from a 3D printer."
In response, Campbell stated, "Not only is this inaccurate, but it is clearly absurd," and emphasized that its products are made from chickens raised without antibiotics and meet high-quality standards.
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