‘Manager threw mouse at my face’: Bengaluru woman's viral post on toxic workplace

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A Bengaluru-based product designer has triggered a wave of outrage online after recounting how her former manager once hurled a computer mouse at her face in anger, exposing the pervasive problem of workplace toxicity.

The woman, who chose to remain anonymous, shared her ordeal during the Tech Roast Show in Bengaluru last year. A clip of the exchange, recently posted on Instagram by the event’s organisers, has since gone viral, drawing nearly 300,000 views and sparking widespread discussion on professional misconduct and toxic corporate culture.

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The incident reportedly occurred several years ago when she was employed in Mumbai. On her final day at the firm, she mistakenly worked on the wrong assignment after misinterpreting instructions. Her manager, enraged by the error, allegedly picked up a Dell mouse and flung it at her face.

“I developed severe trauma after this incident,” she was quoted by HT.com as saying. She added that she now makes it a point to tell prospective employers to address issues with empathy rather than anger.

She further explained that the manager’s violent outburst was not an isolated occurrence: “He had anger issues. He has had these outbursts on multiple people in front of me and after I left as well,” she said, underscoring how such behaviour was part of a larger pattern.

The woman also noted that toxic practices were far too common in the design industry. “In design as an industry it is pretty common to face such toxic work cultures and really bad pay adds to it as well. I hope reading this story would give people some strength to talk about this issue more because it’s very common and often ignored,” she said in her conversation with HT.com.

The seriousness of her revelation was made starker by its setting: a comedy event known for playful banter. As she recalled the incident, the comedians on stage - Austin Nasso, Jesse Warren and Nikita Oster - were visibly shocked. One of them even asked, half in disbelief, “He threw a mouse at you? Like a computer mouse or a live mouse?”

The clip has drawn intense reactions on social media. “This should not be normalised, not even as a joke,” one Instagram user wrote. Another remarked: “This would be a lawsuit in the US.” Others attempted to lighten the mood, with one quipping: “Imagine the merch at the end was a Dell mouse.” "Well, at least I won a T-shirt in the end. 5 years later, the torture has paid off," another user wrote.

While the product designer is now working in a healthier environment, her experience has become a flashpoint for conversations about harassment, anger management and the normalisation of toxic behaviour at workplaces.