Pee Prank Backfires: Chinese Teens Urinate In Broth At Eatery, Parents Ordered To Pay ₹2.6 Crore To Haidilao

(MENAFN- Live Mint) A Chinese court recently ordered two teenagers, who filmed themselves peeing into a hotpot broth at a popular restaurant, and their parents, to apologise and pay more than 2.2 million yuan ( ₹2.6 crore) in damages.

The 17-year-old boys, whose last names are Wu and Tang, took turns to stand on a table and pee into the broth in a private dining room at an outlet of Haidilao restaurant in Shanghai city, reported state-run broadcaster CCTV News.

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One of them later posted a video of their derogatory act on social media despite being“fully aware” of potential negative impact, the media report said.

After the video went viral, Haidilao issued a statement apologising for the incident. It also assured customers that all utensils at its restaurant had been“destroyed and replaced.”

The company also refunded more than 4,000 affected dine-in orders and gave each customer extra compensation worth 10 times their original payment.

Two catering companies, linked to Haidilao, in March had sued the two teenagers and their parents , seeking a public apology and over 23 million yuan ($3 million) in damages to their business, harm to their reputation and other related costs.

The court said in its ruling that Haidilao's full refunds to affected customers were reasonable and directly related to the incident involving the teenagers. But it said the tenfold compensation lacked legal causation and was deemed a“voluntary business decision”, reported CCTV News.

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The court also said that the teenagers and their parents should issue apologies in designated newspapers to the catering companies, and the parents would bear financial liability for their sons' actions.

The ruling was passed by Shanghai's Huangpu District People's Court.

It also warned that parents will risk heavy penalties if they fail to supervise their kids.

“This behaviour can no longer be dismissed as a simple prank,” it said, slamming it as“extreme disregard for others' rights and a blatant challenge to social norms,” it added.

Haidilao, one of the world's most popular Chinese restaurant brands, was founded in Sichuan in 1994. It operates 1,360 outlets in China and more than 1,400 globally, including in the US, UK, Singapore, Australia and Canada.

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