Panda Express to Pay $1.4 Million in Class Action Settlement

If you’ve eaten at Panda Express recently, you may be entitled to compensation.

The American fast food chain agreed to settle a class action lawsuit that alleged “hundreds of thousands” of customers paid covert delivery fees with “false and misleading” disclosures, USA Today reported.

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According to the lawsuit, the company obscured the cost of delivery by displaying lower prices, typically for $2.95, before hitting delivery customers with a 10% “service charge.”

Restaurants often add service fees to supplement servers’ tips — and they’ve proliferated across the industry amid higher costs of living and inflation.

“You’re seeing service charges a lot very recently,” Sean Jung, an assistant professor who studies hospitality analytics at Boston University, told Recode. “It means that basically everyone in the restaurant industry is having a very hard time.”

Customers who placed a delivery order through Panda Express’s website or app between July 17, 2020, and February 16, 2022, with a service fee charge may be entitled to payment; Panda Express will pay $1.4 million to settle, though it didn’t admit to wrongdoing, per USA Today.

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The court will determine whether it will approve the settlement on November 8. Customers who paid the service fee should submit a claim online before January 24, 2024, to receive either a cash payment or two free medium entrée vouchers that can be used on the chain’s website or app. Each claim is expected to exceed $10, according to the settlement administrator’s website.