--- title: "MrBeast Company Faces Federal Lawsuit Over Sexual Harassment and FMLA Violations" url: https://www.herespartanburg.com/mrbeast-company-federal-lawsuit-harassment-fmla/ date: 2026-04-23T13:01:03-04:00 modified: 2026-04-23T16:13:20-04:00 author: "Hollis V. Blackwell" categories: ["Uncategorized"] site: "HERESpartanburg" attribution: "HERESpartanburg" --- # MrBeast Company Faces Federal Lawsuit Over Sexual Harassment and FMLA Violations > A former executive at Beast Industries has filed a federal lawsuit alleging sexual harassment by the then-CEO, pregnancy discrimination, and wrongful termination less than three weeks after returning from maternity leave. *Source: [HERESpartanburg](https://www.herespartanburg.com/mrbeast-company-federal-lawsuit-harassment-fmla/) — April 23, 2026 by Hollis V. Blackwell* A federal lawsuit filed Wednesday accuses the media companies behind YouTube’s most-watched creator of fostering a workplace culture of sexual harassment, pregnancy discrimination, and retaliation — raising broader questions about how fast-growing digital media companies handle federal employment protections. Lorrayne Mavromatis, who joined Beast Industries in August 2022 as head of Instagram for the MrBeast brand, filed the complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, naming MrBeastYouTube, LLC and GameChanger 24/7, LLC as defendants. She was promoted twice within her first year and eventually oversaw the company’s verticals division at an executive level, according to the complaint. The lawsuit describes a work environment in which female employees were regularly sidelined and demeaned. According to the complaint, then-CEO James Warren — a cousin of MrBeast founder Jimmy Donaldson — held one-on-one meetings with Mavromatis in a dimly lit room at his home rather than at company offices and made repeated comments about her appearance. When she raised concerns about unwanted advances from a male client, Warren allegedly dismissed them and suggested she should consider the attention flattering, court documents showed. Mavromatis also alleged in the filing that when she asked Warren why Donaldson avoided direct collaboration with her, Warren told her that her appearance had a certain sexual effect on Donaldson. The company called that characterization fabricated and attributed Donaldson’s behavior to his Crohn’s disease, which he has disclosed publicly. The complaint details conditions during Mavromatis’s pregnancy that the suit argues violated the federal Family and Medical Leave Act. According to court documents, she joined a team conference call from her hospital bed while in active labor, fearing she would face retaliation if she declined. She was terminated less than three weeks after returning to work full time, the complaint states. The company’s position, relayed through spokesperson Gaude Paez, is that Mavromatis’s role was eliminated during a reorganization led by a new ecommerce manager — a restructuring that affected other employees as well. Paez called the lawsuit a clout-chasing complaint built on deliberate misrepresentations, and said the company possesses extensive evidence — including Slack and WhatsApp records, internal documents, and witness accounts — that contradicts the allegations. A screenshot shared by the company shows Mavromatis signed a document acknowledging receipt of the employee handbook, including FMLA policies, roughly four days before she gave birth. The suit also cites language from a 36-page internal guide titled “How to Succeed In MrBeast Production,” which was distributed to employees during Mavromatis’s tenure. The guide included passages indicating it was acceptable for male employees to behave immaturely, that work hours were irrelevant, and that no does not mean no, according to the complaint. The company has disputed portions of the handbook characterization. After Mavromatis formally complained to the company’s then-head of human resources about harassment and a hostile environment, the suit says she was transferred and demoted. The company denied the demotion occurred. Beast Industries fired a number of employees in 2024 following a third-party investigation that identified isolated instances of workplace harassment, and subsequently hired new senior leadership including a chief people officer and general counsel. Hours after the lawsuit was filed, Donaldson addressed questions about company culture at the Time100 Summit in New York City, where he was being honored among the magazine’s most influential people. He acknowledged that his company has had to evolve significantly and that he brought in more experienced leaders — noting that someone whose expertise is YouTube content is not necessarily equipped to set the culture of a 750-person organization. The Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund at the National Women’s Law Center announced it is supporting Mavromatis’s case, describing the situation as an example of a pattern in which those with influence and power are shielded from accountability while those who speak up face retaliation, according to a statement from senior director Jennifer Mondino. For workers across Upstate South Carolina — a region with large manufacturing and service-sector employers subject to the same federal employment laws at issue in this case — the lawsuit spotlights FMLA enforcement and workplace discrimination statutes that fall squarely within the jurisdiction of lawmakers representing this area. Rep. William Timmons of SC-4, whose district covers Greenville and Spartanburg, sits on the House Oversight Committee, which holds oversight authority over federal workforce policy and regulatory enforcement including the FMLA. Sen. Lindsey Graham chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, which oversees civil rights enforcement and federal employment litigation. Neither has commented publicly on the case. The lawsuit remains pending in federal court. A trial date has not been set.