Panda Express has reached a settlement agreement with the U.S. Justice Department to resolve an investigation into whether the restaurant discriminated against non-U.S. citizens when reverifying their permission to work. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the investigation concluded that Pandra Express required lawful permanent resident workers to re-establish their work authorization when their green cards expired yet made no such requests to U.S. workers when their work verification documents expired. Under the agreement, Panda Express will pay a civil penalty of $400,000 and establish a $200,000 back pay fund to compensate workers who lost employment due to the company’s...
