Campbell’s (NASDAQ: CPB) has been the center of stock market attention for a couple of days now, and for all the wrong reasons. 

Namely, the soup company’s stock is continuing to lose value over a controversy involving the vice president and chief information security officer, Martin Bally, who was allegedly not only ridiculing the company’s products and customer base but also making racist comments about his colleagues.

Campbell’s stock closed more than 3% in the red on Monday, November 24, and another 0.6% the day after. Now trading at $30.42, down almost 28% year-to-date (YTD), CPB shares have sunk to lows not seen since the Global Financial Crisis.

Campbell’s stated on Tuesday that the vice president had been placed on leave as the management investigates the audio recording that captured Bally’s rant about “poor people” who buy the firm’s “highly processed food” and his “idiot” colleagues.

Campbell’s defends its products

The recording was made by Robert Garza, a former cybersecurity analyst, who likewise filed a lawsuit against Bally. According to the complaint, Garza was fired on January 30 after lodging concerns of racial discrimination and harassment, and he now seeks compensation for emotional, economic, and non-economic damages, in addition to attorney fees and related costs.

In a statement, Campbell’s defended the company and its products: 

“Such language does not reflect our values and the culture of our company. We do not tolerate that kind of language under any circumstances.… 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,” the company statement read.

The company has also noted on its website that the chicken used in Campbell’s soups comes from “long-trusted, USDA-approved U.S. suppliers” and meets its quality standards.

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