A judge Monday denied a motion by a woman to remove what remains of her suit, alleging she was forced to strip to her underwear and hug another undressed co-worker as part of a team-building activity while working at a Santa Clarita Panda Express, out of arbitration and back to court.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elaine Lu ruled against plaintiff Jennifer Spargifiore after hearing arguments on Friday and then taking the case under submission.
Spargifiore’s lawyers maintained the remaining defendant in the case, self-improvement consulting company Alive Seminars and Coaching Academy, had nothing to do with the terms of employment agreements she signed in 2016 and 2018 in which she said she would arbitrate disputes. Those agreements had prompted Lu to send Spargifiore’s entire case into arbitration in July 2021.
In their court papers filed with Lu, Spargifiore’s lawyers noted that the arbitrator, retired Judge B. Scott Silverman, also found that there was no “agency relationship” between Panda and Alive and that therefore, the remainder of the plaintiff’s case alleging sexual battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress should be decided by a jury.
“Here, Ms. Spargifiore never agreed to an arbitration agreement with defendant Alive,” the plaintiff’s lawyers state in their court papers. “This is not disputed by any party.”
Academy attorneys opposed the plaintiff’s motion.
“Having lost before the arbitrator on her claims against Panda, plaintiff promptly moved to forum-shop in hopes of avoiding the same fate on her claims against Alive,” the academy lawyers maintained in their court papers.
Spargifiore and the academy have arbitrated their dispute and for more than two years, during which time the parties produced more than 300 documents, asked and answered 52 interrogatory requests, deposed nine witnesses during 10 days of questioning and conducted more than 15 hearings before the arbitrator, the academy attorney further maintains.
The judge scheduled a post-arbitration status conference for May 10, 2024.
In her suit filed in February 2021, Spargifiore, now 25, alleged the 2019 incident was part of a trust-building activity hosted by Panda Express and the self-improvement consulting company Alive Seminars and Coaching Academy. Her manager allegedly told her that the seminar was required to be considered for a promotion.
The lawsuit states that the plaintiff worked at the Santa Clarita Panda Express from August 2016 to July 2019 and described the sessions as “bizarre and quickly devolved into psychological abuse.”
The incident in question happened July 13, 2019, where Spargifiore participated in an exercise wherein she was forced to strip to her underwear under the guise of trust-building, according to the lawsuit.
“The seminar more and more resembled a cult initiation ritual as time went on,” the lawsuit states.
“Her chances of promotion were destroyed,” the suit states. “She had been forced to strip in front of her co-workers.”
Spargifiore’s work conditions became intolerable and she was forced to resign as a result in July 2019, her suit alleges.