Popular YouTuber MrBeast’s company hit with employment lawsuit alleging FMLA violations and ‘toxic’ workplace

A new lawsuit filed late last month against popular YouTuber MrBeast’s company, Beast Industries, is putting one of the internet’s most successful and influential creator-led content companies under a level of HR and compliance scrutiny that influencer- and creator-centric companies may not be used to.

The suit, filed by former employee Lorrayne Mavromatis—whose first title with the company was “head of Instagram” before two promotions led to a $250,000 salary—alleges in the civil complaint that her former employer violated the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and wrongfully terminated her. She claims to have reported gender discrimination and harassment, as well as retaliation (a demotion to the remote position of “social media manager”), alleging an eventual dismissal tied to maternity leave.

According to the lawsuit, Mavromatis alleges she was pressured to work during and after the birth of her child, including “a work conference call while in the labor and delivery room”, work during leave on a 10-hour shift three weeks after the birth, and travel to Brazil for a MrBeast shoot involving the Brazilian soccer star Neymar.

The suit states she was ultimately terminated less than three weeks after returning from maternity leave and alleges that the company failed to properly inform her of her FMLA protections.

Toxic? Mavromatis’s lawsuit describes the broader workplace culture as hostile and discriminatory toward women.

It alleges that in lieu of a more standard employee handbook referencing policies and practices, the plaintiff and other employees received a handbook titled “How to Succeed In MrBeast Production,” which included references like, “It’s okay for the boys to be childish” and “[D]o everything you can to empower the boys when filming.” It allegedly also instructed employees that “No Does Not Mean No” and “The Amount of hours you work is irrelevant.”

She alleges that she and other female employees faced sexual harassment, were treated differently than male colleagues, that she was excluded from meetings or working on projects because of the effects her appearance had on company leaders, and reported alleged demeaning requests or work by male colleagues and leadership.

After reporting this behavior internally—including to HR—she claims she was told “this is just how leaders talk at MrBeast.” She was then discouraged from reporting behavior to her “uppers,” and was demoted and later terminated, according to her complaint.

The company denied the lawsuit’s allegations in a response prepared for the courts. It asserts in court documents that when Mavromatis raised issues about the company, its leaders investigated; that she was transferred at her request “to gain experience in other parts of the business”; and that she lobbied to visit “her native Brazil for a photo shoot with the international soccer star Neymar while on parental leave.” The company denied Mavromatis’s claims related to the employee handbook and claimed her termination was related to the restructuring of an underperforming business rather than her gender, parental leave, or complaints about the company.

“This complaint is built on deliberate misrepresentations and categorically false statements, and there is extensive evidence — including Slack and WhatsApp messages, company documents, and witness testimony — that unequivocally refutes these claims. We will not submit to opportunistic lawyers looking to manufacture a payday from us,” Benjamin Soley, a PR professional working with the company, shared in an emailed statement to HR Brew.

However, the filing also follows a separate lawsuit filed as a class action against BeastGames and Amazon’s TV studio in 2024 by a group of contestants claiming they experienced sexual harassment and unsafe working conditions shooting an Amazon competition show. Beast Industries’ founder, Jimmy Donaldson, who goes by “MrBeast” on social media, also faced heat in a 2021 New York Times report from internet and social media journalist Taylor Lorenz that highlighted accusations of toxic workplace behavior at his company.

Donaldson was asked about the company culture at the Time100 Summit the same day Mavromatis filed her suit. “I started this business when I was 11, so obviously I didn’t even know what that word [culture] meant back then, and so it’s obviously evolved over the lifetime of the company,” he told Time editor-in-chief Sam Jacobs. “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 point out things.”

Any lessons for HR? Culture and compliance don’t grow automatically. For HR leaders, the case can highlight the need for comprehensive people policies and compliance training.

In such audits, protections under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) are often examined, according to Bronwyn Roberts, employment attorney and partner with Duane Morris, as well as FMLA administration, anti-harassment policies, and complaint handling.

“When we’re doing diligence, particularly for acquiring a company, we’ll ask for a copy of the company handbook. We’ll ask for an employee census,” Roberts said. “We’ll take a look at the handbook and see if the handbook includes all the policies that are required by each state. If there were something [like] outlier statements about, you know, ‘letting boys be boys’ that was in conflict with a policy against discrimination, we would flag that.”

An employee handbook, she added, serves as a guide for employees regarding employment policies on wages and conditions, against harassment, Roberts added.

MrBeast’s response to Mavromatis’s complaint denies that the document Mavromatis is referring to is their official handbook.

“I do see companies that want their policies and handbooks to be infused with their company culture in some way, and while there’s certainly a place for culture to arise in a handbook, I don’t think that is the main point of a handbook,” she said. “To the extent a company wants to have some culture in the handbook, it should be very light. Culture should come in different ways, outside of the handbook.”

Correction 05/19/2026: This piece has been updated to clarify that MrBeast’s company, not MrBeast, is facing the lawsuit filed by Mavromatis, as well as details of the proposed class action lawsuit.