25YO Boss Shoved Employee’s Face into Boiling Hotpot for Fun in Japan

Last Updated on 2018-12-01 , 10:58 am

Lest you’re unaware, fun is a pretty subjective term.

On one hand, you have kids running around in the playground, making a nuisance of themselves while deeming themselves to be having ‘fun’.

And then on the other, you get bosses stuffing their employees’ faces into boiling hotpots, all in the name of ‘fun’.

Now, make no mistake, one’s significantly more, as Netizens would probably say, despicable than the other. And indeed, I can feel my blood boiling at the mere thought, and I can’t help but clench my fists as I imagine the agony they must be going through…

Those poor adults who just want to play see-saw.

Unfortunately, this article isn’t about them, and so I can’t channel my inner rage that’s been pent up for so long. But hey, to be fair…

The other incident is pretty darn damning too.

All in the name of ‘fun’

After being pushed face-first into a boiling pot of soup during a company event, a former employee at a Japanese entertainment company is now suing its president following severe burns that reportedly took “a month to heal”.

Incidentally, the incident, which took place in 2015, gained traction again after media reports on the criminal lawsuit surfaced earlier this week.

The power of the Internet and social media, indeed.

Lest you’re wondering, here’s the gist of it:

According to Apple Daily, the then 23-year-old victim had attended a year-end party, but saw his night come to a premature end when he had his face unceremoniously shoved into a boiling pot of soup by his then 25-year-old President.

And apparently that wasn’t enough too, as the boss was believed to have said:

“There are clients here, make it fun.”

Damn, I hope our clients’ definition of fun isn’t like that.

Thereafter, the victim’s face was soup-palmed once again and this time, the force was so great the pot fell off the stove.

Ouch.

Now, I bet you’re wondering.

What are his colleagues doing? Where were them? Are they not helping? Where’s the teamwork? Does the soup still taste good after that?

And my answer’s that…

They took delight in his demise.

Damn, I hope my colleagues’ definition of fun isn’t like that.

Indeed, not only did they not help him, they were reportedly cheering in light of his demise. Heck, one man could even be seen continuing to cook ingredients in the same pot.

Now, if I don’t know better…

I would’ve thought that this was a Minions movie.

Just a prank

As mentioned earlier on, the victim had sustained serious burns in the wake of the incident, with painful blisters and scarring visible on his face.

According to reports, it took roughly a month to heal.

But perhaps the incident has been in the works all along, as the victim has expressed that he had been constantly bullied at the workplace.

And it seems that the soup clearly took its toll on him too, as he claims to have suffered emotional and physical distress since the episode.

“When I see a hotpot, it reminds me of that time and it is painful,” he reportedly said.

Thereafter, the president of the company was interviewed by Weekly Shincho, where he was believed to have played everything down to “just a prank”.

In a recent study, Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare highlighted the incident, using it as an exemplifier to show that workplace ‘power harassment’ by superiors has increased in the last decade.

Not exactly positive thoughts there, really. And one can only hope that it will follow the journey of MySpace, rather than, say, Facebook.

Or a bad superior, in this case.

You can watch the video of the incident here, though I’ll highly suggest that you skip it if you don’t want to have Hotpotphobia.