A former Panda Express employee said in a civil complaint that she was stripped of her clothes during a “trust-building” exercise by colleagues and strangers.
Jennifer (23), Spargifiore, filed the case in the Los Angeles High Court last month. Panda Express and Alive Seminars and Coaching Academy, a self-improvement consultation facility that led the exercise, are named in the lawsuit as defendants.
According to the filing, Spargifiore worked for Panda Express from August 10, 2016 to July 15, 2019, primarily in the northern suburb of LA County, Santa Clarita.
She said that the Alive seminars are often a prerequisite for promotion, and that participants must provide their work ID numbers so that seminar fees can be debited directly from their Panda Express employee accounts. ‘
However, the day-long sessions were “bizarre and quickly turned into psychological abuse”, the lawsuit reads.
During one session on 13 July 2019, Spargifiore was put under pressure to an ” exercise ‘in which she was forced to pull down to her underwear under the guise of’ confidence building ‘, according to the complaint.
She “stripped almost naked in front of strangers and co-workers – was extremely uncomfortable, but insisted because she knew it was her only chance at a promotion,” the lawsuit said. “Meanwhile, the staff members of the Alive Seminars openly threw the women into their state of undressing, smiling and laughing.”
Later in this exercise, Spargifiore and a male contestant, also down to his underwear, allegedly had to be forced to stand in front of the group to ‘hug it out’.
“Over time, the seminar has become more and more like a cult initiation ritual,” the lawsuit reads.
After Spargifiore left the seminar early, she was reportedly ‘constructively terminated from her position at Panda Express in July 2019’.
The case, which states that Spargifiore was a victim of sexual batteries, a hostile work environment and the administration of emotional distress, does not mention a dollar figure for damages.
Panda Restaurant Group, the Rosemead, parent company of Panda Express in California, said it was conducting its own investigation into the allegations set forth in the case.
“We do not accept the kind of conduct described in the lawsuit, and it is of great importance to us,” the company said in a statement on Wednesday. ‘We are committed to providing a safe environment for all employees and stand behind our core values to treat every person with respect. ”
The company also tried to distance itself from co-accused Alive, calling it a ‘third-party organization in which Panda has no interest and over which he has no control.’
“Panda Restaurant Group has no mandate for anyone to participate in Alive Seminars and Coaching Academy, nor is it a requirement to earn promotions,” the company said.
Alive could not be immediately reached for comment Wednesday. In a statement to the Orange County Register, the organization said its training sessions are presented with respect and dignity.
