A former employee of Beast Industries has filed a lawsuit against MrBeast’s media production company, alleging that she was fired from her role as a social media manager after returning from maternity leave. She also claims she endured years of sexual harassment and gender bias at the workplace. The lawsuit was filed by Lorrayne Mavromatis in a federal court in North Carolina on Wednesday. It accuses MrBeastYouTube and GameChanger 24/7 of violating federal laws that allow eligible employees to take unpaid, job-protected leave for family and medical reasons, including childbirth.
In addition to the lawsuit, Mavromatis has lodged a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging discrimination based on sex, pregnancy, and retaliation. She claims that even after giving birth, she continued working relentlessly. “I worked ‘nonstop’ following my baby’s birth,” she said, adding, “I was still bleeding, and I just had to show up,” Mavromatis told The
Associated Press in an interview.
According to her, she was fired less than three weeks after returning to full-time work, as reported by CBC. However, a spokesperson for Beast Industries dismissed the allegations, calling the lawsuit a “clout-chasing complaint” built on “deliberate misrepresentations and categorically false statements.” The spokesperson stated that Mavromatis’s role was eliminated during a restructuring led by a new head of ecommerce.
The company also shared a Slack conversation dated March 31, 2025, in which a colleague told Mavromatis that she “shouldn’t even be checking” her messages after she cancelled a meeting, explaining she was “actually in labour at the hospital as we speak.”
Responding to claims that the company failed to inform her about her rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act, Beast Industries presented a screenshot showing her signed acknowledgment of the employee handbook, which included FMLA policies. “We will not submit to
opportunistic lawyers looking to manufacture a payday from us,” the company said.
Company culture once again under scrutiny
Mavromatis’s lawsuit has brought renewed attention to the internal culture at Beast Industries, the company behind one of YouTube’s biggest creators. It paints a picture of a toxic and misogynistic work environment, even as new leadership attempts to expand the business into areas like television and financial services.
The company, founded by Jimmy Donaldson—better known as MrBeast—has been growing rapidly. Its Amazon Prime reality series Beast Games has already released two seasons, and it recently acquired the youth-focused banking app Step. Concerns about the company’s work culture are not new. Two years ago, scrutiny intensified after old instances of Donaldson’s use of racist and homophobic language resurfaced, along with allegations involving inappropriate messages sent by a longtime collaborator to minors.
In an email sent to employees in August 2024, Donaldson acknowledged the need for change, stating he must “create a culture that makes all our employees feel safe and allows them to do their best work.” Following a third-party investigation, several employees were fired over what were described as “isolated instances” of harassment and misconduct.
Since then, Donaldson has continued to expand his presence beyond YouTube. He appeared at last year’s MTV Video Music Awards, featured in a Super Bowl commercial for Salesforce, and is set to appear in the upcoming Angry Birds Movie 3. Beast Industries, which employs around 700 people according to chief communications officer Gaude Paez, has been aggressively hiring talent from companies like NBCUniversal and TikTok as it looks to grow beyond Donaldson’s personal brand.
Mavromatis filed her lawsuit just ahead of the Time100 celebration in New York City, where Donaldson is expected to be honored as one of the magazine’s most influential people, alongside Pope Leo XIV, U.S. President Donald Trump, and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
A high-intensity workplace
According to the lawsuit, Beast Industries fostered a culture that pushed employees to go to extreme lengths to meet expectations. Mavromatis referred to a 36-page internal guide titled “HOW TO SUCCEED IN MRBEAST PRODUCTION,” which included statements such as “It’s okay for the boys to be childish” and “The Amount of hours you work is irrelevant.”
She said this pressure led her to join a team meeting from her hospital bed while in labour, fearing she might lose her job if she didn’t participate. “I actually had to hold my breath in between talks because of how hard the contractions were,” she said.
Now 34, Mavromatis joined the company in August 2022 as head of Instagram and received two promotions within a year. Between June 2023 and January 2024, she managed operations for the company’s verticals division—a role she described as executive-level, though the company maintains it was mid-level.
A few months into her job, she approached then-CEO James Warren, Donaldson’s cousin, for advice after noticing that Donaldson avoided making eye contact with her. According to the complaint, Warren told her, “Jimmy gets really awkward around beautiful women. Let’s just say that when you’re around and he goes to the restroom, he’s not actually using the restroom.”
The lawsuit further alleges that after she reported sexual harassment and a hostile work environment to human resources—then led by Donaldson’s mother—she was transferred and demoted to what she described as “an obscure role.” The company has denied this claim, calling it “false and inaccurate.”
Mavromatis’s case is being supported by the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund at the National Women’s Law Center, an initiative launched during the early days of the #MeToo movement.
“Abusive workplaces rely on a persistent lack of accountability. We see this pattern frequently, where those with influence and power are allowed to harm others and retaliate against those who decide to speak up,” said senior director Jennifer Mondino. “We are in a collective fight to address a longstanding culture of harassment that relies on entrenched silence and shame.”
Media professional and journalist based in British Columbia, Canada. Founder of Studiox Film & TV Corporation, focusing on multicultural news, interviews, and community storytelling across Canada.
