“Worth one day off,” read a piece of paper that Mariana Sánchez, the owner of a bakery in Mexico, had her employees catch by headbutting the store’s glass windows in what netizens dubbed a “humiliation ritual.”

Sánchez, 23, posted the clip on her store’s TikTok page, @makereposteria, in which she’s seen laughing as her employees try and fail to catch the written message with their heads as she drops it in front of one of the bakery’s panels.

“This is how Mariana Sánchez humiliates the workers of Maké Bakery in exchange for a day off. Can you be any more miserable?” wrote a user on X, sharing the video and generating more than one million views.

The owner was previously at the center of a controversy after being sued by one of her staff over a settlement dispute.

The owner of a Mexican bakery gets blasted online after forcing her workers to headbutt a panel in order to win a “free day off”

Image credits: José Gpe. Ríos

The backlash was immediate as the clip was shared over 1,500 times on X, with hundreds of users expressing anger at what they believed was an abuse of authority and a clear example of a toxic work environment.

Viewers were also disgusted by the way Sánchez used her position of power to force her staff to “play a game” for the store’s TikTok page, which also doubles as her own personal site where she gives tips on entrepreneurship and other topics.

“What did she think we were all going to say? ‘Wow, how cool that the people you work with have to humiliate themselves for an arbitrary day off?'” one viewer wrote.

The controversy spread to other posts by the establishment, escalating the situation to the point where it became a trending topic on X, further amplifying the criticism toward the young owner.

Image credits: José Gpe. Ríos

Forced to control the situation, the bakery issued a statement to calm the waters:

“We know that one of our recent videos went viral and has generated different interpretations. We take our team’s well-being very seriously, always ensuring their rights are respected and that they work in a positive environment. Days off and other benefits are important to us because our team is our top priority.”

The message’s effectiveness was quickly undermined, however, as Sánchez dropped a follow-up video on her social media without the approval of her team, labeling the outrage as “exaggerated” and ridiculing those who criticized her as “atacados,” which is somewhat similar to the English slang term “snowflakes.”

Far from apologizing, Sánchez took to social media to ridicule her detractors, which added fire to the backlash and forced the bakery to turn off comments on all of its accounts

Image credits: José Gpe. Ríos

Seeing her lack of remorse, users flooded her social media with negative comments. This forced Sánchez to turn off the comments section of her latest TikTok videos.

Maké Bakery’s Instagram account, on the other hand, also blocked and erased comments from most of its posts, but it was unable to do so on its pinned photo, allowing angry viewers to leave their thoughts regarding the treatment of her employees and exploitation in the workplace.

Image credits: José Gpe. Ríos

“Next time add some self awareness to your cakes,” one user wrote on the bakery’s post.

“This is nothing but a clear example of ‘passive’ humiliation,” said another.

“The fact that you thought humiliating your employees for publicity was a good idea is just sad,” pointed out one viewer.

“All of this bakery’s workers should unite and sue this woman. There’s money to be made here people!” urged another.

The backlash also motivated some local news sites like Milenio to divulge the bakery’s location and working hours, but no details of any on-site protests have emerged.

Sánchez went viral earlier this year for venting about a salary dispute with one of her employees, who ended up suing her

Image credits: makebakery.gdl

This wasn’t the first time Mariana Sánchez has been a trending topic on X, as in April 2024, a post by Terror Restaurantes MX got more than 1.2 million views after the account replied to one of the owner’s TikTok rants, in which she mocks one of her ex-employees for asking her for money after being fired from the bakery.

In the clip, Sánchez expresses disbelief at the fact that the staff member sued her after being let go, explaining that she thought she owed them no money due to the aforementioned worker being employed for a “trial period.”

Image credits: makebakery.gdl

“Hello, Maké Reposteria, I’ll leave you some articles from the Federal Labor Law. Apparently you opened a business without reading it first,” read the reply.

The post mentions Article 39-A of the Mexican Labor Law, which reads: “During the trial period the worker will enjoy the salary, the social security guarantee and the benefits of the category or position he or she performs.”

The incident sparked fierce debate online as some defended the owner’s actions, claiming the backlash was unwarranted

Así humilla Mariana Sánchez a sus empleados de Maké Bakery para darles un día de descanso

¿Se puede ser más miserable?

pic.twitter.com/1ce1zcE171

— José Gpe. Ríos (@Guadarios) August 20, 2024

Despite the initial barrage of negative comments, some users came to Sánchez’s defense, arguing that the headbutt clip was just a game and that people were being overly sensitive.

“I don’t understand the outrage, she and her employees are clearly having fun together,” one user wrote.

“Where’s this supposed ‘humiliation?’ It’s clearly a game,” argued another.

“Of course they are laughing, that’s their boss, it’s not genuine laughter,” one reader replied.

“I can’t believe some people are justifying this. This is a clear example of abuse of power,” another wrote.

In regards to the lawsuit, some users defended the owner, stating that working for 15 days does not constitute a reason to sue a business owner and arguing that the fired worker was trying to take advantage of Sánchez.

Comments in Spanish were translated to English for this article.

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