Tuesday, March 9, 2021

Lawsuit alleges that Panda Express workers were "forced to strip in 'cult-like' team-building seminar"

Here's the write-up, here's a Reddit thread with people discussing the article and their own experiences with similar seminars, here's a Quora thread from a few years ago, and here's an excerpt from a glowing LA Magazine profile from 2015:
[The company's CEO] has a confident chin, a white crew cut that achieves a halo effect in the right light, and dark, expressive eyes that can let you know in a glance what a great job you’re doing or how much you still need to improve. His voice has a quiet intensity that demands you listen to him carefully. 
...
The company actively encourages its employees to join Toastmasters International and attend personal-improvement seminars as retro as Dale Carnegie Training and as New Agey as the Landmark Forum (which seems a likely source for Cherng’s integrity lingo). On Saturday mornings the grand auditorium fills with hundreds of employees, ranging from servers to members of the Panda Group’s PR and legal teams as well as many of their children. They gather together for inspiring speeches, team-building activities, and plenty of group hugs.