Campbell’s has fired an executive accused of making racist comments and mocking its products and customers, the company announced on Wednesday.

The termination follows a lawsuit filed in Michigan by former employee Robert Garza against Campbell’s, the company’s then-vice president of information technology Martin Bally and another manager.

The complaint alleges retaliation and a hostile work environment, citing a November 2024 meeting between Bally and Garza to discuss salary, according to the lawsuit.

Garza allegedly recorded the conversation, and the audio — obtained by NBC News — is more than 90 minutes long.

During the interaction, the lawsuit alleges that Bally described Campbell’s as “highly process(ed) food” and said it was for “poor people.” He also allegedly made racist remarks about Indian workers, calling them “idiots.”

‘After a review, we believe the voice on the recording is in fact Martin Bally,’ Campbell’s said Wednesday. ‘The comments were vulgar, offensive and false, and we apologize for the hurt they have caused.’

The company said it does not tolerate the language used in the audio recording and the behavior “does not reflect” its values.

Campbell’s said it learned of the litigation and first heard segments of the audio on Nov. 20.

Bally’s termination was effective Tuesday, the company said.

According to the lawsuit, Garza told his manager, J.D. Aupperle — who is also named as a defendant, about Bally’s behavior in January 2025 and wanted to report the comments to the human resources department. He was not encouraged to report the comments, the lawsuit claims, and was then ‘abruptly terminated from employment’ later that month.

‘This situation has been very hard on Robert,’ Garza’s attorney, Zachary Runyan, said in a statement to NBC News on Tuesday. ‘He thought Campbell’s would be thankful that he reported Martin’s behavior, but instead he was abruptly fired.’

Garza is seeking monetary damages from the company.

Bally and Aupperle did not immediately return requests for comment on Wednesday.

Campbell’s said it is ‘proud of the food we make’ and ‘the comments heard on the recording about our food are not only inaccurate — they are patently absurd.’

What began as a banner day for stocks turned into a major rout, as investors signaled ongoing skepticism about the longevity of the artificial intelligence boom and trimmed hopes of support from the Federal Reserve.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 2%, and the broad S&P 500 index dropped by more than 1.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which tracks 30 top-tier stocks, declined by nearly 390 points. It had been up 700 points earlier in the day. Cryptocurrencies also shed billions in value: Bitcoin had fallen below $87,000 as of late Thursday afternoon, weeks after having set highs above $120,000.

The stunning turnaround added further unease to an already shaky economy that has forced households to trim budgets amid stubborn inflation and signs of a wavering job market. With an ever-increasing part of the economy’s principal driver — consumer spending — now reliant on affluent households, an extended market pullback could inflict wider damage.

‘You don’t have to have the biggest bubble in history for an expensive stock market’ and end up seeing declines, said Matt Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak asset management group.

Traders’ hopes were boosted early Thursday by a better-than-expected jobs report that appeared to show the economy remained resilient. Even before the day began, stocks looked poised to rise after Nvidia, the chipmaker at the heart of the AI boom, reported strong quarterly earnings and revenue.

Yet by midday, markets had turned red. The solid September jobs report diminished the odds that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next month to lower the cost of borrowing money to spur economic activity. When investors don’t have to pay as much in interest, they often put those savings into stocks.

“The broad rebound in payrolls suggests diminished risks of a higher unemployment rate,” analysts with Morgan Stanley said in a note published shortly before noon. “We no longer expect a Fed cut in December.”

Losses were further compounded by ongoing concerns about AI — specifically, how much more profitable the companies buying chips like Nvidia’s will be. The fears were articulated Wednesday evening on X by Michael Burry, made famous by the movie ‘The Big Short.’

‘Just because something is used does not mean it is profitable,’ he wrote.

Finally, the ongoing sell-off of bitcoin indicated to some traders that a key source of support for stocks — retail or day traders — were beginning to waver on their trademark ‘buy the dip’ mentality.

‘I wouldn’t say we’ve flipped from bull to bear,’ said Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers financial group. ‘I would say we’ve flipped from bull to balanced market in the short term. A lot depends on whether sentiment continues to weaken.’

Stocks had already been showing signs of flagging in recent weeks. With Thursday’s losses, the S&P 500 fell to its lowest point since September.

The long-delayed September jobs report, which showed that the United States added a sturdy 119,000 jobs, appeared to show some glimmers of hope for the economy.

Although the unemployment rate ticked up from 4.3% in August to 4.4%, about 450,000 workers entered the labor force. Economists view that as evidence that job opportunities are still plentiful, despite a wave of corporate layoffs.

Just before the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the jobs report, Verizon told employees it planned to lay off 13,000 employees, or about 13% of its workforce.

The company joined a suite of other blue-chip employers that say they plan to eliminate tens of thousands of jobs, including Amazon, General Motors, IBM, Microsoft, Paramount, Target and UPS.

The details of the jobs report, which captured conditions before the government shutdown, as well more recent jobs data, suggested a more mixed picture for the U.S. economy.

Manufacturing shed 6,000 jobs, continuing a trend in a sector the Trump administration has touted as a key target of its economic policies. Transportation and warehousing also lost 25,300 jobs. Wage growth slowed, and job totals for July and August were revised downward.

The employment gains in September were concentrated in the health care, hospitality and social assistance sectors.

Another snapshot of the economy came courtesy of Walmart, which on Thursday reported strong sales and raised its outlook for the year. That strength points to cracks in the economy, though. Executives said the chain is luring more high-income shoppers who are looking for bargains, and noted that lower-income families are feeling more pressure.

‘As pocketbooks have been stretched, you’re seeing more consumer dollars go to necessities versus discretionary items,’ Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey said on an earnings call Thursday morning.

Walmart’s stock closed 6.5% higher.