A former employee of MrBeast's media production company is suing the company alleging gender bias and that she was unjustly fired shortly after returning to work from maternity leave.
The company has disputed the claims, saying the lawsuit is a thinly veiled attempt at a shakedown. The MrBeast Youtube channel currently has 479 million subscribers.
The Associated Press reported that Lorrayne Mavromatis' lawsuit alleges that MrBeast's media production company violated the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) when it fired her three weeks after she returned from maternity leave. The law protects employees who need to take unpaid time off for a variety of medical reasons such as childbirth.
Mavromatis told the AP that she worked "nonstop" after her baby's birth. "I was still bleeding, and I just had to show up," she told the outlet.
MrBeast's company, however, has strongly denied the accusations.
"This clout-chasing complaint is built on deliberate misrepresentations and categorically false statements, and we have the receipts to prove it," Beast Industries said in a statement, according to Deadline. "There is extensive evidence — including Slack and WhatsApp messages, company documents, and witness testimony — that unequivocally refutes her claims. We will not submit to opportunistic lawyers looking to manufacture a payday from us."
The Associated Press reported that the company shared an exchange on Slack between Mavromatis and another coworker. In that exchange, the coworker told Mavromatis "shouldn't even be checking" her messages after Mavromatis canceled a meeting and wrote that she was "in labor at the hospital as we speak."
The company also provided the AP a screenshot of her signature that confirmed she had received an employee handbook which outlined FMLA requirements. Mavromatis, 34, joined the company in August 2022 as head of Instagram and was promoted twice within a year, according to the AP.
The lawsuit also alleges sexual harassment. Deadline reported that Mavromatis claims that she was told by CEO James Warren that Jimmy Donaldson (MrBeast) would not meet with her because "she is a beautiful woman and her appearance had a certain sexual effect on Jimmy."
"'Jimmy gets really awkward around beautiful women. Let's just say that when you're around and he goes to the restroom, he's not actually using the restroom,'" Deadline reported the complaint states.
A company spokesperson disputed the allegation to Deadline.
"This is an allegation fabricated for the sole purpose of sparking headlines. It's also disgusting that the lawsuit is exploiting Jimmy's eye condition and Crohn's disease — two medical conditions he has been publicly open about — in their attempt to secure a multimillion-dollar payday," the spokesperson told deadline.
