A 19-year-old cook at a Panda Express in Jersey City is suing the Chinese food franchise, claiming that the manager told her to have an abortion and then physically assaulted her weeks later when she didn’t abort her child.
Romerian Logan, 19, says BiQing Liu, manager of the Panda Express in the Newport Centre mall, suggested that she should undergo an abortion after she announced her pregnancy last July. Logan reportedly ignored his remarks, but says Liu continued to speak negatively about the pregnancy. Logan also claims that a few weeks later, Liu assaulted her. Logan says that when she reported the incident to human resources, nothing was done to help her.
She continued to work at her job, but states she was given manual labor such as “scrubbing jobs,” which she was “unable to perform because of her pregnancy.”
Logan’s lawsuit states that both the manager and company violated the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination in refusing to provide reasonable accommodations for her during her pregnancy, harassing her, abusing her physically, and creating a hostile work environment. Logan claims that after she announced her pregnancy to Liu, he was disappointed and “started making negative comments” about her pregnancy and “suggested that she get an abortion.” Court documents state that three months later, he “physically assaulted [Logan] by physically restraining her from leaving the workplace after her shift.”
Logan is accusing Panda Express of ignoring a complaint she filed against Liu after she reported the incident to Human Resources, which took no action. Logan also states that higher level management at the company was aware that Liu expressed a “continuous pattern of physical and emotional harassment” but did nothing about it.
Logan was fired from her job in December, four months after giving birth to her son. However, Panda Express in Jersey City told The Post that Liu had been transferred to another Panda Express in New York City.
A national study shows that Logan is not alone in being pressured to have an abortion. The study revealed that 64% of women who underwent abortions felt pressured to do so by others — including partners, parents, and financial concerns. That pressure can become violent. The current leading cause of death for pregnant women is homicide.
