Media reports have reported that a Chinese court had ordered the parents of two teenagers who urinated in a pot of broth that was served at a hotpot restaurant to pay a compensation of 2.2 million yuan (Rs 2.6 crore).
The teens were in an inebriated state of the incident, and they too filmed themselves in the process of committing the act of insult. It not only contaminated the food, but also decomposed people. The video went viral, and this incident attracted a lot of attention.
Court Orders Teenagers’ Parents to Pay ₹2.6 Crore in Compensation
The viral video captured the 17-year-old teenager standing on a table and urinating into a pot of broth when he was eating in a separate room in one of the branches of Haidilao, the largest hotpot chain in China. These officials affirmed that no diners took the contaminated broth. The incident happened on February 24.
The incident, which happened in their branch of Sichuan in Jianyang, made Haidilao compensate over 4,000 customers as a precaution later. The teens were also arrested and charged with a police case. In the meantime, the company had initiated a civil suit in March demanding a public apology and 23 million yuan (approximately Rs 27 crore) in damages.
This week, the Huangpu District People’s Court in Shanghai came up with a ruling that the teenagers who insulted Haidilao by acting rudely to damage the property and reputation of the former.
Chinese Court Penalises Guardians
Parents of the teenagers were held culpable of failure to supervise their children. They were liable to pay 2 million yuan (Rs 2.4 crore) as loss to the reputation and business of Haidilao, 130,000 (Rs 15.4 lakh) as broken tableware and cleaning and 70,000 (Rs 8.3 lakh) as legal fees because the parents failed in their duty of guardianship, the media report further added.
The teenagers and their parents will also be required to apologise publicly in some of the newspapers, though their privacy will be upheld since the teenagers are underage.
The court admitted the decision to give back all dine-in customers made by Haidilao as being reasonable but it was a voluntary exercise by the company and was not included in damages.
Haidilao was established in 1994 in Sichuan, and it has grown to be one of the most recognisable Chinese restaurant brands in the world with more than 1360 stores in China and a total of over 1400 stores in other countries such as the US, UK, Singapore, Australia, and Canada.
