In March this year, a video showing someone 'urinating into a hotpot' at a Haidilao restaurant in China sparked widespread attention. Subsequently, Shanghai Huangpu police issued a notice, imposing administrative detention penalties on the individuals involved, Tang and Wu; Haidilao later filed a lawsuit, and on the 12th, the first-instance verdict was handed down: the parents of Tang and Wu must jointly compensate Haidilao for operating losses and damage to business reputation totaling 2.2 million yuan (approximately 1.3 million ringgit).
According to People’s Daily, Tang (male, 17) and Wu (male, 17) previously dined in a private room at a Haidilao location, where they took turns standing on the dining table and urinating into the hotpot, filming each other and sharing the video on their social media circle. The video was rapidly circulated and attracted widespread public attention, prompting Haidilao to issue an apology, stating that all tableware in the incident store would be destroyed and replaced, the location would undergo deep disinfection, and all 4109 orders served during the incident period would receive a full refund and 10 times the order amount as cash compensation.
Subsequently, a Sichuan catering management group (hereinafter referred to as Sichuan Catering Company) and a Shanghai catering management company (hereinafter referred to as Shanghai Catering Company) brought the matter to Shanghai Huangpu District People’s Court. They requested that Tang, Wu, and their parents publicly apologize, and compensate Shanghai Catering Company for tableware loss and cleaning and disinfection costs totaling 150,000 yuan, and compensate Sichuan Catering Company and Shanghai Catering Company for operational and business reputation losses totaling 23 million yuan as well as rights protection costs of 100,000 yuan.
Reports stated that after trial, the court held that Tang and Wu deliberately urinated into the hotpot, and while being aware of the potential for online spread and negative social impact from the public video, still knowingly allowed the video’s public dissemination. This constituted joint infringement against property and reputation (through insulting means), as well as property damages. Following the incident, Haidilao refunded all customers, which was causally related to the infringement and deemed a reasonable loss; however, the 10-times compensation was an independent business decision, which the court could not support.
In the end, the Shanghai Huangpu District People’s Court ruled that Tang and his parents, as well as Wu and his parents, must publish an apology to the plaintiffs in the designated newspapers while protecting the minors’ privacy; and must compensate for operating and business reputation losses in the amount of 2 million yuan and rights protection expenses, for a total of 2.2 million yuan. All other claims by Sichuan Catering Company and Shanghai Catering Company were dismissed.