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A former Beast Industries employee is suing MrBeast\u2019s media production company after she was allegedly fired from her social media manager job upon returning from maternity leave and following years of what she described as sexual harassment and workplace gender bias.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The lawsuit, filed by Lorrayne Mavromatis in federal court in North Carolina on Wednesday, accuses MrBeastYouTube, LLC and GameChanger 24\/7, LLC of violating federal law that entitles eligible employees to take unpaid, job-protected leave for qualifying family and medical reasons, including childbirth. Mavromatis also filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission<\/a> alleging discrimination on the basis of sex, pregnancy, and retaliation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Mavromatis claims that she worked \u201cnonstop\u201d following her baby\u2019s birth as well as while in the delivery room. \u201cI was still bleeding, and I just had to show up,\u201d Mavromatis told The Associated Press in an interview.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Less than three weeks after she returned to work full time, she said she was fired.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n A Beast Industries spokesperson called the lawsuit a \u201cclout-chasing complaint\u201d built on \u201cdeliberate misrepresentations and categorically false statements\u201d in an emailed statement. Mavromatis\u2019s position was eliminated, according to the spokesperson, when the new head of ecommerce reorganized her team.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The company shared a March 31, 2025 exchange on the workplace messaging app Slack, in which a coworker told Mavromatis that she \u201cshouldn\u2019t even be checking\u201d her messages after Mavromatis canceled a meeting because she wrote she was \u201cactually in labor at the hospital as we speak.\u201d In response to allegations that MrBeast failed to inform her of her rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act, the company shared a screenshot of her signature confirming receipt of the employee handbook including FMLA policies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe will not submit to opportunistic lawyers looking to manufacture a payday from us,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Mavromatis\u2019s lawsuit raises disturbing allegations about the culture behind YouTube\u2019s most popular creator as new company leaders seek to rapidly expand the media empire founded by Jimmy Donaldson under his MrBeast alias.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n It portrays a toxic, misogynistic workplace that Beast Industries has recently tried to clean up as Donaldson\u2019s media empire launches ambitious ventures into television and financial services. His \u201cBeast Games\u201d Amazon<\/a> Prime reality competition show is two seasons deep and the company recently acquired the teenager-focused banking app Step.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Questions about Beast Industries\u2019 internal culture<\/a> surfaced two years ago after a social media firestorm over Donaldson\u2019s past racist and homophobic language coincided with accusations that a longtime collaborator shared inappropriate sexual messages with minors. In an August 2024 email to employees, Donaldson said he recognized that he must \u201ccreate a culture that makes all our employees feel safe and allows them to do their best work.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Beast Industries fired several employees following a third-party investigation that identified \u201cisolated instances\u201d of workplace harassment<\/a> and misconduct.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Donaldson has since become a growing presence in American entertainment outside of YouTube. He appeared at last year\u2019s MTV Video Music Awards, advertised for business software maker Salesforce in a Super Bowl commercial<\/a> and joined the cast of the upcoming \u201cAngry Birds Movie 3.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Beast Industries, which employed about 450 people last year, continues to expand. The company has been on a hiring spree of late, landing executives from the likes of NBCUniversal and TikTok as the brand tries to find success beyond Donaldson\u2019s name and image.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Mavromatis\u2019s lawsuit was filed ahead of Thursday\u2019s TIME100 celebration in New York City, where Donaldson is scheduled to be honored as one of the magazine\u2019s most influential people, along with Pope Leo XIV, President Donald Trump<\/a> and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Beast Industries encouraged employees to \u201cgo to great lengths\u201d to get the job done, according to Mavromatis\u2019s lawsuit, which refers to a 36-page \u201cHOW TO SUCCEED IN MRBEAST PRODUCTION\u201d guide circulated among employees at the time of her employment. The guide included sections saying, \u201cIt\u2019s okay for the boys to be childish\u201d and \u201cThe Amount of hours you work is irrelevant.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n It was against that backdrop that Mavromatis said she joined a team meeting from her hospital bed in the throes of labor, afraid she would be fired if she refused.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI actually had to hold my breath in between talks because of how hard the contractions were,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Mavromatis, now 34, was hired in August 2022 as MrBeast\u2019s head of Instagram, and was promoted twice within a year. Between June 2023 and January 2024, she oversaw operations for the company\u2019s verticals division, an executive-level position.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n A few months after she started at the company, she asked James Warren \u2014 Donaldson\u2019s cousin and CEO at that time\u2014 for advice when she noticed Donaldson would not make eye-contact with her.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n According to the complaint, Warren responded: \u201cJimmy gets really awkward around beautiful women. Let\u2019s just say that when you\u2019re around and he goes to the restroom, he\u2019s not actually using the restroom.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The company attributed Donaldson\u2019s bathroom trips to his Crohn\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The lawsuit said that after Mavromatis reported sexual harassment issues as well as a hostile work environment to human resources, which was headed by Donaldson\u2019s mother, she was transferred and demoted to \u201can obscure role.\u201d The company refuted that claim, calling it \u201cfalse and inaccurate.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n TIME\u2019S UP Legal Defense Fund at the National Women\u2019s Law Center, which was founded during the early days of the #MeToo reckoning against sexual misconduct, says it is supporting Mavromatis\u2019s case.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cAbusive 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,\u201d said senior director Jennifer Mondino. \u201cWe are in a collective fight to address a longstanding culture of harassment that relies on entrenched silence and shame.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Associated Press\u2019 women in the workforce coverage receives financial support from Pivotal Ventures. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP\u2019s standards<\/a> for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nCompany culture once again under scrutiny<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
A high intensity workplace<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n