Former MrBeast employee sues company over sexual harassment, pregnancy discrimination

In a federal lawsuit filed in the Eastern District Court of North Carolina on Wednesday, plaintiff Lorrayne Mavromatis, hired in 2022 as the head of Instagram, claimed MrBeastYouTube LLC violated basic employment laws of several women employees. Jimmy Donaldson, the online personality behind MrBeast, was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

According to the complaint, MrBeast did not have a parental leave policy, and the company did not inform Mavromatis of her rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The lawsuit alleges MrBeast required her to perform “substantial and continuous work” over the 8-week period following the birth of her child and that she feared retaliation if she did not work during her FMLA-mandated leave. Mavromatis was on a work conference call while in the labor and delivery room, the lawsuit claims. Three weeks after Mavromatis returned from FLMA, MrBeast allegedly terminated her for being  “too high caliber” for her position.

Mavromatis also claimed she was sexually harassed during her time at Beast Industries and was demoted for issuing a formal complaint regarding workplace sexual harassment. MrBeast’s former CEO, James Warren, Donaldson’s cousin, allegedly required Mavromatis to meet with him at his home and commented on the way she looked in certain clothes. According to the lawsuit, Warren dismissed Mavromatis’s concerns about a male client’s unwelcome advances and told her Donaldson refused to work on certain projects with her because “her appearance had a certain sexual effect” on him. 

“This is an allegation fabricated for the sole purpose of sparking headlines,” a spokesperson for Warren told Fortune in a statement.

Beast Industries, the conglomerate that holds MrBeast’s various channels and ventures, denied the claims in the lawsuit and said Mavromatis was made aware of her FMLA rights.

“This clout-chasing complaint is built on deliberate misrepresentations and categorically false statements, and we have the receipts to prove it,” a spokesperson told Fortune in a statement. “There is extensive evidence—including Slack and WhatsApp messages, company documents, and witness testimony—that unequivocally refutes her claims.”

‘The Beast Bible’

In the complaint, Mavromatis outlined the work culture at Beast Industries. She described the company’s handbook, known internally as “The Beast Bible,” and claimed it contained guidelines including, “It’s okay for the boys to be childish.” The lawsuit also said the handbook told workers they are expected to work with intensity and pull all-nighters.

After starting his YouTube channel in 2012, posting videos of himself playing Minecraft, Donaldson began making elaborate game-show-style videos with large cash prizes. He garnered a following of 479 million followers of the platform, making him the most-followed YouTube creator. His estimated net worth is about $2.6 billion. Beast Industries, based in Greenville, S.C., has about 750 employees.

MrBeast’s company culture

Donaldson recently said he has worked to hire more experienced executives to lead the company. 

“I started this business when I was 11, so, obviously, I didn’t even know what that word meant back then,” Donaldson said at the Time100 Summit on Wednesday. He noted that, as someone who studied YouTube and content, he “isn’t maybe the best” to build company culture.

“The new C-suite and stuff that I brought in 24 months ago—it’s been amazing to have people who have actually worked and ran and built large teams like point out things where I’m like, ‘Oh that makes sense. That’s why I hired you,’” he added.

MrBeast is no stranger to litigation. In 2023, after suing Virtual Dining Concepts (VDC), his partner in fast-food ghost kitchen MrBeast Burgers, over alleged poor food quality, VDC countersued MrBeast for more than $100 million, alleging Donaldson used “bullying tactics” to give up ownership of the company to him. A court dismissed VDC’s counterclaims in 2025, though the lawsuit against VDC is ongoing.

An ongoing lawsuit filed in 2024 claims participants in his $5 million game show Beast Games, in partnership with Amazon and MGM Studios, were exploited. Contestants alleged they were subject to sexual harassment and unfair treatment, as well as not given meal breaks, enough rest, or compensated fairly. Others told The New York Times they did not receive medical care after being physically injured in challenges during filming.

A MrBeast spokesperson told the outlet at the time the shoot “was unfortunately complicated by the CrowdStrike incident, extreme weather, and other unexpected logistical and communications issues,” and that the company had undergone a formal review of the filming period. 

Beast Games season three is currently in development and is expected to begin production later this year.