PANDA EXPRESS SETTLES DISCRIMINATION CASE

Panda Express, the quick-service Chinese food chain, will pay $600,000 to settle a claim that it discriminated against workers who weren’t U.S. citizens. It required its employees who were legal permanent residents to re-establish their work authorization when their documents expired even though they didn’t ask the same of their staffers who are citizens, according to the Justice Department. The chain will pay a $400,000 fine and create a $200,000 fund to provide back pay to affected workers. The company said it never intended to discriminate.