Featured Image Credit: Zhang Peng/LightRocket via Getty Images
Topics: China, Crime, Business, Food and Drink, Court
Liv Bridge
Topics: China, Crime, Business, Food and Drink, Court
Two teens have had their day in court after allegedly 'peeing' into the hotpot of a restaurant in China.
Earlier this year, a restaurant was left to pick up the pieces of what must've been some hefty complaints when a video went viral of two teens peeing into a pot of food.
Now, two 17-year-olds who apperently filmed themselves committing the vile act in the Chinese restaurant have been dragged before the courts where they have been ordered to apologize and pay an eye-watering sum in damages.
According to state media, the order also applies to their parents.
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The teens, whose last names are Wu and Tang, were accused of urinating into the simmering broth that was in a private dining room at a branch of the Haidilao chain restaurant in Shanghai.
State-run broadcaster CCTV News added one of the teens even posted a video of the pair peeing into the pot on social media which then went viral.
This was despite them being 'fully aware' of the potential negative impact, a report into the ruling at Shanghai’s Huangpu District People’s Court read.
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The viral video shows the pair stood on a table above the broth and freely relieving themselves into the broth below.
Once the footage spread online, Haidilao was forced to apologize to customers about the incident, writing online: "In the early hours of February 24, two men urinated into a hotpot after dining in a private room at a Haidilao branch on the Bund in Shanghai.
“As management had never made contingency plans or given training for dealing with this type of incident, staff at our branch were unable to detect any abnormalities at the scene or uphold the safety of the dining environment.”
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The restaurant chain said it 'destroyed and replaced' all of its utensils for obvious hygiene reasons and to inspire customer confidence.
It was also forced to refund more than 4,000 affected orders, applying to customers that visited the restaurant between February 24 and March 8.
Not only that, but they dished out compensation to customers worth 10 times their initial payment.
The two catering companies likely affiliated with the restaurant filed to sue Tang, Wu and their parents in March this year, which included a public apology and a payment of more than 2.2 yuan, roughly $309,000.
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However, while the court ruled the restaurant's decision to offer full refunds was proportionate and reasonable given the incident, it said Haidilao's initiative to provide tenfold compensation was a 'voluntary business decision'.
CCTV News added that the court further instructed the teenagers to go the extra mile in their apologies, with both the youngsters and parents told to officially express their regret in designated newspapers.
The parents also have to bear the financial burden of their children's actions.
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China Comment, an influential magazine of the ruling Communist Party, wrote in its editorial this week that the decision shows the extent to which parents risk 'heavy penalties' if they fail to supervise their offspring.
“This behavior can no longer be dismissed as a simple prank,” the editorial read, as per The Mirror US.
The magazine then criticized the behavior of the teenagers as an 'extreme disregard for others’ rights' as well as a 'blatant challenge to social norms'.
UNILAD has previously reached out to Haidilao for comment.