Urinating in a hotpot container: Two teenagers fined $300,000!

Two teenagers have been fined nearly 2.2 million yuan ($309,000) in a bizarre incident in Shanghai, China. The incident occurred in February this year, when the two teenagers urinated in a soup bowl while drunk at a branch of the country's popular hotpot chain restaurant 'Haidi Lao' and shared the video on social media.

After the video went viral, there was widespread outrage among the general public. Although the restaurant authorities said that no one ate the contaminated soup. Still, the restaurant refunded the bills of more than 4,000 customers who ate at the branch from February 24 to March 8 and refunded 10 times the amount of the bill, resulting in a loss of about 23 million yuan for the establishment. In addition, all hotpot equipment was replaced and cleaning and disinfection activities were carried out throughout the restaurant.

The court said on Friday that the teenagers' behavior had damaged the restaurant's property and reputation and caused serious discomfort to the public. According to the court, the teenagers' guardians should also bear the responsibility for the fines because they did not exercise proper supervision.

Details of the fines:

Operational and reputational damage: 2 million yuan

A catering company's equipment and cleanliness: 1.3 million yuan

Legal costs: 70,000 yuan

However, the court clarified that the additional compensation paid to customers was Haidilao's own business decision, so it is not recoverable from the teenagers.

Haidilao, which started its journey in Xianyang, Sichuan Province in 1994, currently operates more than 1,000 branches around the world. The company is particularly popular for its exceptional customer service.