Current:Home > BackJury awards $1.2 million to Robert De Niro’s former assistant in gender discrimination lawsuit-LoTradeCoin
Jury awards $1.2 million to Robert De Niro’s former assistant in gender discrimination lawsuit
View Date:2024-12-23 23:58:52
NEW YORK (AP) — A jury said Robert De Niro’s company should pay more than $1.2 million to his former personal assistant after finding his production company engaged in gender discrimination and retaliation.
While the jury found De Niro was not personally liable for the abuse, they said his production company, Canal Productions, should make two payments of $632,142 to his longtime personal assistant, Graham Chase Robinson.
De Niro, who spent three days at the two week-trial, including two on the witness stand, has been ensnared in dueling lawsuits with Robinson since she quit in April 2019. He was not in the courtroom when the verdict was read aloud on Thursday afternoon.
Robinson, 41, testified that De Niro, 80, and his girlfriend, Tiffany Chen, teamed up against her to turn a job she once loved into a nightmare. She smiled and hugged all her lawyers after the jury exited the room. She also smiled as the verdict was being delivered.
De Niro and Chen each testified that Robinson became the problem when her aspirations to move beyond Canal Productions, the De Niro company that employed her, led her to make escalating demands to remain on the job.
In two days on the witness stand, the actor told jurors that he boosted Robinson’s salary from less than $100,000 annually to $300,000 and elevated her title to vice president of production and finance at her request, even though her responsibilities remained largely the same.
When she quit, De Niro said, Robinson stole about $85,000 in airline miles from him, betrayed his trust and violated his unwritten rules to use common sense and always do the right thing.
At times, De Niro acknowledged from the witness stand many of the claims Robinson made to support her $12 million gender discrimination and retaliation lawsuit, including that he may have told her that his personal trainer was paid more than her in part because he had a family to support.
He agreed he had asked her to scratch his back on at least two occasions, dismissing a question about it with: “Ok, twice? You got me!”
He admitted that he had berated her, though he disputed ever aiming a profanity her way, saying: “I was never abusive, ever.”
He also denied ever yelling at her, saying every little thing she was trying to catch him with was nonsense and that, at most, he had raised his voice in her presence but never with disrespect. Then, he looked at her sitting between her lawyers in the well of the courtroom and shouted: “Shame on you, Chase Robinson!”
De Niro said Robinson was wrong to take 5 million airline miles from his company’s accounts, but he acknowledged that he had told her she could take 2 million miles and that there were no strict rules.
Robinson testified that she quit her job during an “emotional and mental breakdown” that left her overwhelmed and feeling like she’d “hit rock bottom.”
She said she has suffered from anxiety and depression since quitting and hasn’t worked in four years despite applying for 638 jobs.
“I don’t have a social life,” she said. “I’m so humiliated and embarrassed and feel so judged. I feel so damaged in a way. ... I lost my life. Lost my career. Lost my financial independence. I lost everything.”
De Niro’s lawyers sued Robinson for breach of loyalty and fiduciary duty even before her lawsuit was filed against him in 2019. They sought $6 million in damages, including a return of the 5 million airline miles.
In a closing argument Wednesday, De Niro attorney Richard Schoenstein said the miles that were taken were worth about $85,000. He said jurors could order Robinson to return some of her salary, but, he added: “We’re not looking for you to punish her.”
In his closing, Robinson attorney Brent Hannafan called the two weeks of court proceedings a civil rights trial and urged jurors to return a verdict “not just for Ms. Robinson, but for all civil rights litigants.”
De Niro has won two Oscars over the past five decades in films such as “Raging Bull” and “The Deer Hunter.” He’s in the Martin Scorsese film “Killers of the Flower Moon” that’s in theaters now.
veryGood! (2)
Related
- Man accused of killing American tourist in Budapest, putting her body in suitcase: Police
- Iran says a short-range projectile killed Hamas’ Haniyeh and reiterates vows of retaliation
- A humpback whale in Washington state is missing its tail. One expert calls the sight ‘heartbreaking’
- Tyreek Hill of Miami Dolphins named No. 1 in 'Top 100 Players of 2024' countdown
- 'Yellowstone' premiere: Record ratings, Rip's ride and Billy Klapper's tribute
- Ballerina Farm, Trad Wives and the epidural conversation we should be having
- Stephen Nedoroscik, 'pommel horse guy,' wins bronze in event: Social media reactions
- Vanderpump Rules' Scheana Shay Slams Rude Candace Cameron Bure After Dismissive Meeting
- Arizona Supreme Court declines emergency request to extend ballot ‘curing’ deadline
- Police search huge NYC migrant shelter for ‘dangerous contraband’ as residents wait in summer heat
Ranking
- Pennsylvania House Republicans pick new floor leader after failing to regain majority
- Chase Budinger, Miles Evans win lucky loser volleyball match. Next up: Reigning Olympic champs
- Ticketmaster posts additional Eras Tour show in Toronto, quickly takes it down
- 'We made mistakes': Houston police contacting rape victims in over 4,000 shelved cases
- 'I heard it and felt it': Chemical facility explosion leaves 11 hospitalized in Louisville
- J.Crew’s Epic Weekend Sale Features an Extra 60% off Clearance Styles with Tops Starting at $8
- 'Terror took over': Mexican survivors of US shooting share letters 5 years on
- US Homeland Security halts immigration permits from 4 countries amid concern about sponsorship fraud
Recommendation
-
OneTaste Founder Nicole Daedone Speaks Out on Sex Cult Allegations Against Orgasmic Meditation Company
-
How Noah Lyles plans to become track's greatest showman at Paris Olympics and beyond
-
Netherlands' Femke Bol steals 4x400 mixed relay win from Team USA in Paris Olympics
-
Unhinged controversy around Olympic boxer Imane Khelif should never happen again.
-
Mother of Man Found Dead in Tanning Bed at Planet Fitness Gym Details His Final Moments
-
Ballerina Farm, Trad Wives and the epidural conversation we should be having
-
Vanderpump Rules' Scheana Shay Slams Rude Candace Cameron Bure After Dismissive Meeting
-
Stephen Nedoroscik, 'pommel horse guy,' wins bronze in event: Social media reactions