Panda Express will pay more than $1 million — including $25,000 to Coachella Valley-based FIND Food Bank — to settle allegations it failed to train employees to safely handle carbon dioxide used in its soda machines.
The charges were brought by Riverside County, which will receive nearly $274,000, and over 30 other counties across the state.
The judgment, filed Nov. 20 in Riverside County Superior Court, resolves a lawsuit following an investigation “into the unlawful handling of hazardous materials” at more than 500 Panda Express locations statewide, the county district attorney’s office said in a press release.
Training lapses put workers and customers at risk
Restaurants typically store carbon dioxide in pressurized on-site tanks, but undetected leaks caused by improper procedures can displace oxygen and pose serious health risks to employees and customers…