BY BRIAN HEWS • March 9, 2021
This week it was reported that an employee seminar company hired by the popular fast food company Panda Express – Pico Rivera-based Alive Seminar and Coaching Academy (Alive) – was named in a lawsuit alleging physical and psychological abuse at Panda seminars the company conducted.
The complaint alleged the Panda Express seminar was “strange and quickly devolved into psychological abuse.”
Participants, who paid for the seminar out of their own pocket, were prohibited from using their cellphones, the windows were covered with cloth and there was no clock in the room.
According to the complaint, as the seminar progressed, the event became more like a cult ritual with coaches asking participants to strip down to their underwear and hug each other.