A former Beast Industries employee is suing MrBeast's 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, the AP reports. 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 US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging discrimination on the basis of sex, pregnancy, and retaliation.
Mavromatis claims that she worked "nonstop" following her baby's birth as well as while in the delivery room. "I was still bleeding, and I just had to show up," Mavromatis told the AP in an interview. Less than three weeks after she returned to work full time, she said she was fired. A Beast Industries spokesperson called the lawsuit a "clout-chasing complaint" built on "deliberate misrepresentations and categorically false statements" in an emailed statement. Mavromatis's position was eliminated, according to the spokesperson, when the new head of ecommerce reorganized her team.
Mavromatis's lawsuit raises disturbing allegations about the culture behind YouTube's most popular creator as new company leaders seek to rapidly expand the media empire founded by Jimmy Donaldson under his MrBeast alias. It portrays a toxic, misogynistic workplace that Beast Industries has recently tried to clean up as Donaldson's media empire launches ambitious ventures into television and financial services. His Beast Games Amazon Prime reality competition show is two seasons deep and the company recently acquired the teenager-focused banking app Step. Mavromatis's lawsuit was filed ahead of Thursday's TIME100 celebration in New York City, where Donaldson is scheduled to be honored as one of the magazine's most influential people, along with Pope Leo XIV, President Trump, and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Questions about Beast Industries' internal culture surfaced two years ago after a social media firestorm over Donaldson's 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 "create a culture that makes all our employees feel safe and allows them to do their best work." Beast Industries fired several employees following a third-party investigation that identified "isolated instances" of workplace harassment and misconduct. Donaldson has since become a growing presence in American entertainment outside of YouTube. He appeared at last year's MTV Video Music Awards, advertised for business software maker Salesforce in a Super Bowl commercial and joined the cast of the upcoming Angry Birds Movie 3.
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