A Chinese court has ordered the parents of two teenagers who filmed themselves urinating into a pot of broth at a hotpot restaurant to pay 2.2m yuan (£227,000) in compensation.
The video of the drunk 17-year-olds standing on a table and urinating into the broth pot while dining in a private room at the Shanghai branch of China's biggest hotpot chain, Haidilao, had triggered widespread public outrage.
The incident occurred on 24 February but Haidilao said it only became aware four days later and could not initially determine the time and location.
The incident prompted the hotpot chain to offer compensation to over 4,000 diners, even though there was no suggestion anyone had consumed the contaminated broth.
Haidilao reported the case to police in Jianyang, Sichuan, where it’s headquartered, and other locations, leading to the arrest of the teenagers.
In March, the chain filed a civil lawsuit against the teenagers seeking a public apology and over 23m yuan (£2.3m) in damages.
The Huangpu District People's Court of Shanghai has now ruled that the teenagers deliberately infringed upon property rights and damaged reputation through “acts of insult”.
It noted that the incident polluted tableware and dining environment in the private room, causing "strong discomfort among the public".
The court reportedly held the parents of the teenagers had "failed to fulfil their duty of guardianship" and ordered them to pay 2m yuan (£206,100) for reputational and business damage, 130,000 yuan (£13,398) for tableware losses and cleaning expenses, and 70,000 yuan (£7,214) in legal costs.
It also directed the accused teenagers and their parents to issue public apologies in designated newspapers while protecting the privacy of the minors, state media Global Times reported.
The court said Haidilao's decision to issue full refunds to all dine-in customers from the time of the incident until the establishment was cleaned and tableware replaced was reasonable compensation. However, it was a "voluntary business decision" by the company and this cost should not be borne by the teenagers.
Haidilao started in a small town in Sichuan in 1994 and went on to become one of the most popular Chinese cuisine brands in the world. As of June 2023, it had opened 1,360 restaurants in China and operated more than 1,400 globally.
Super Hi International operates 122 Haidilao Hot Pot branded restaurants in 14 countries, including the US, UK, Singapore, Australia, and Canada.
Chinese hot pots are large pans of boiling spiced broth set in the centre of a table that allow diners to dip and cook their own food – with thinly sliced meat often on the menu.
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