Panda Express

Panda Express worker told to strip down to her underwear for 'cult-like' team-building seminar: lawsuit

OVERVIEW: Panda Cares is the philanthropic vehicle of the Panda Restaurant Group. The organization supports pediatric hospitals and education. Funding is mainly limited to the U.S.

PROFILE: Established in 1999 and refreshed in 2016, Panda Cares is the philanthropic vehicle of the Panda Restaurant Group, the parent company of the Panda Inn, Panda Express and Hibachi-San restaurant chains. Based in Las Vegas, the foundation’s mission is “to serve the Health and Education needs of underserved youth and to foster the spirit of giving.” Through grants, employee and in-store donation programs and an annual golf invitational, this funder supports public health, K-12 education, higher education, racial justice and equity and disaster relief. It prioritizes the geographic areas where its parent company operates restaurants, namely the states of California, Florida, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee and Utah. In addition to its philanthropic activities, Panda Cares runs an extensive food donation program.

The parent company of the Panda Express restaurant chain has been ordered to pay over $1 million in penalties and costs to resolve violations of California's Hazardous Materials Business Plan laws. Panda Restaurant Group, Inc. was sued by a coalition of 37 district attorneys and two city attorneys for allegedly failing to provide mandatory employee training on the safe handling of carbon dioxide used in its fountain beverage systems across its 500-plus California locations. A stipulated judgment was filed on November 20 against Panda Express Restaurant Group, Inc to resolve violations of California's hazardous materials business plan laws.The civil lawsuit, filed in Riverside County Superior Court, resulted from an investigation into the unlawful handling of hazardous materials, specifically carbon dioxide, at over 500 California restaurant locations, including over 30 in Riverside County.Panda Express restaurants use carbon dioxide in tanks for their carbonated fountain beverage systems. If not handled properly, carbon dioxide can leak unnoticed, displacing oxygen and potentially resulting in serious health effects or death.The lawsuit alleged that instead of properly training restaurant personnel in carbon dioxide handling, Panda Express employees were not receiving the required safety training. The company was also accused of failing to accurately and completely disclose employee training information to local regulators.The settlement was reached after Panda Express took steps to come into compliance by properly training its employees and updating training records.Panda express was ordered to pay a total of over $1 million, broken down into three components:Civil Penalties: $881,925Supplemental Environmental Projects: $100,000Cost Reimbursement: $75,000Total Payment: $1,056,925The lawsuit was a joint effort led by district attorney Mike Hestrin of Riverside County and joined by district attorneys from 37 other counties and two city attorneys.The investigation involved multiple district attorney's offices, including Marin, San Francisco, San Joaquin, and Solano.The settlement imposes injunctive terms, which require Panda Express to comply with chapter 6.95 of the California health and safety code at its restaurants throughout California during the next five years. This law is designed to ensure the safety of first responders, employees, and customers regarding hazardous materials.

Prosecutors alleged that Panda Express employees had not received appropriate training in storage and management of the naturally occurring gas.

Panda Express’ Sichuan Hot Chicken is displayed. The restaurant chain has agreed to pay $1 million for failing to train employees on how to safely handle carbon dioxide in soda machines.

The department’s investigation concluded that Panda Express unnecessarily required lawful permanent resident workers to re-establish their work authorization when their Permanent Resident Cards expired, while not making similar requests to U.S. citizen workers when their documents expired. The investigation also revealed that Panda Express routinely required other non-U.S. citizen workers to produce immigration documents to reverify their ongoing work authorization despite evidence they had already provided sufficient documentation. The antidiscrimination provision of the INA prohibits such requests for documents when based on an employee’s citizenship status or national origin.

The parent company of Panda Express will pay more than half a million dollars to settle claims that the nationwide fast-food chain excessively checked the immigration documents of already-verified employees, the...

Panda Express was previously accused of mistreating immigrant workers.

Panda Restaurant Group, Inc. has settled with the federal government after claims that the company had discriminated its immigrant employees, the Department of Justice announced Wednesday.

According to the EEOC, one male kitchen supervisor at the Panda Express in Kapaa, Kauai, sexually harassed some females on staff over four years ago. The supervisor subjected the workers, some of whom were between the ages of 17 and 19, to sexual comments, language and advances, the EEOC said. Upon reporting the harassment to the general manager, the EEOC said, Panda Express management failed to take enough action to stop or correct the situation.

In 2011, a San Jose, Calif., restaurant was sued by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for singling out Latino workers by forcing them to clean bathrooms and cutting their hours short while Asian workers stood by.

According to the EEOC, the general manager of the Panda Express located on El Paseo de Saratoga gave less desirable assignments to Hispanic workers, reduced their hours and held them to a different standard of performance. Aremy Lomely and other Hispanic workers who worked as counter help were required to clean the bathroom, tables and counters, while Asian employees were permitted to simply stand around and watch, said the federal agency. In addition, the EEOC found that the general manager disciplined Latino employees in a stricter, harsher and more frequent manner than Asian employees for similar infractions.

Panda Express is deploying GridPoint’s smart building technology platform at all of its nearly 2,500 U.S. locations in the next 18 months.

According to the EEOC's lawsuit, Veronica Nava, who worked as a counter helper and cashier, notified her restaurant manager that a co-worker was engaging in sexually inappropriate behavior. Panda Express conducted an investigation and ultimately transferred the co-worker to another location. However, within five weeks of Nava complaining, and just days after the conclusion of Panda Express's investigation, she was fired by that same manager, whom Nava describes as a friend of her alleged harasser.

Panda Express will pay $3.15 million in restitution to more than 1,400 workers and $300,000 in civil penalties. As part of the settlement, they will have to pay more than $8,000 in back pay to a worker who was fired in retaliation for exercising his rights under the Fair Workweek Law. DCWP’s investigation also found that, at all NYC locations, Panda Express violated the Fair Workweek Law by failing to consistently:

A Virginia man is suing Panda Express, which calls itself "America's favorite Chinese restaurant," claiming that the chicken with noodles and mushrooms he ate caused him intestinal problems that required surgery and left him with lifelong injuries, according to a suit removed to North Carolina federal court.

began tracking the data in 1981. That gap is even wider for immigrants. Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies reported foreign-born households had an average homeownership rate of just 56% in 2021, well below the native-born rate. That figure also varies widely by country of origin, ranging from a high of 73% among Vietnamese households down to just 29% among households from the Dominican Republic. Despite the many obstacles standing between first-time buyers and homeownership, Andrew wants his Panda Express employees to focus on what’s possible rather than what’s holding them back. To that end, Panda Express employees can access financial wellness benefits through the company’s Total Rewards Package, including optional training on budgeting, saving for a down payment, and homebuying seminars led by Panda’s in-house real estate legal team, part of a broader support system that also covers healthcare and higher education. “This whole-person approach ensures associates can build sustainable careers and long-term financial security,” Andrew said. That effort appears to be paying off: 63% of Panda Express managers are homeowners, with a median age of 34, above the national homeownership rate of roughly 35% for U.S. adults younger than 35. “When you align closely with team members to help them reach their individual goals, strong retention follows,” Peggy told Inc. At a moment when companies are cutting benefits, Panda Express’s bet on homeownership stands out. It may become a harder one for competitors to ignore. —By Amaya Nichole, News Writer Get 1 Smart Business Story delivered straight to your inbox when you subscribe to Inc.’s free daily newsletter. This article originally appeared on Fast Company’s sister website, Inc.com.  Inc. is the voice of the American entrepreneur. We inspire, inform, and document the most fascinating people in business: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters that represent the most dynamic force in the American economy.

However, Panda Express imposes an additional, hidden 10% cost on delivery food orders that it calls a “service charge,” she alleged in a complaint in the US District Court ...

<table id="DataTables_Table_0"> <thead> <tr><th rowspan="1" colspan="1">Cycle</th><th rowspan="1" colspan="1">Total</th><th rowspan="1" colspan="1">Democrats</th><th rowspan="1" colspan="1">% to Dems</th><th rowspan="1" colspan="1">Republicans</th><th rowspan="1" colspan="1">% to Repubs</th></tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>2024</td> <td>$20,195</td> <td>$12,088</td> <td>61.82%</td> <td>$7,467</td> <td>38.18%</td> </tr><tr> <td>2022</td> <td>$57,751</td> <td>$55,637</td> <td>96.43%</td> <td>$2,059</td> <td>3.57%</td> </tr><tr> <td>2020</td> <td>$128,082</td> <td>$121,023</td> <td>94.74%</td> <td>$6,717</td> <td>5.26%</td> </tr><tr> <td>2018</td> <td>$7,549</td> <td>$5,185</td> <td>70.20%</td> <td>$2,201</td> <td>29.80%</td> </tr><tr> <td>2016</td> <td>$10,019</td> <td>$6,736</td> <td>67.23%</td> <td>$3,283</td> <td>32.77%</td> </tr><tr>

<table id="DataTables_Table_0"> <thead> <tr><th rowspan="1" colspan="1">Recipient</th><th rowspan="1" colspan="1">Total</th><th rowspan="1" colspan="1">From Individualsimore info </th><th rowspan="1" colspan="1">From Organizationimore info </th><th rowspan="1" colspan="1">Typeimore info </th><th rowspan="1" colspan="1">view</th></tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>Brown, Sam</td> <td>$6,600</td> <td>$6,600</td> <td>$0</td> <td>Candidate (R-NVS1)</td> <td>Republican</td> </tr><tr> <td>Low, Evan</td> <td>$6,600</td> <td>$6,600</td> <td>$0</td> <td>Candidate (D-CA16)</td> <td>Democrat</td> </tr><tr> <td>Harris, Kamala</td> <td>$2,179</td> <td>$2,179</td> <td>$0</td> <td>Candidate (D-PRES)</td> <td>Democrat</td> </tr><tr> <td>Schiff, Adam</td> <td>$2,008</td> <td>$2,008</td> <td>$0</td> <td>Candidate (D-CA30)</td> <td>Democrat</td> </tr><tr> <td>Kennedy, Robert F Jr.</td> <td>$618</td> <td>$618</td>

Panda Cares broadly supports racial justice and equity in the U.S. via the Panda Cares Scholars program, which prioritizes students and communities of color.

Giving for higher education is conducted mainly through the Panda Cares Scholars Program, which provides scholarships to high performing students involved in campus leadership and/or community service. The program currently runs three awards programs:

Panda Express confirmed that the incident occurred and said the behavior shown in the video did not meet its food-safety or workplace-safety standards. The company said it retrained employees and reinforced safety procedures at the restaurant and across the surrounding region.

Panda Express welcomes its drive-through customers to its artificial intelligence interface for menu orders. (Press Democrat Staff)

Panda Cares hosts a food donation program open to nonprofits for applications.

Panda Cares has made donations of money, food and protective gear in response to several recent disasters, including the COVID-19 crisis of 2020.