Jury finds De Niro’s company liable for gender discrimination against his assistant

A former assistant of Robert De Niro’s has been awarded more than $1.2 million in damages after a jury found his company liable for gender discrimination and retaliation.

The verdict Thursday in a federal Manhattan courtroom caps a yearslong legal battle between Graham Chase Robinson and the actor, who the jury found was not personally liable.

De Niro’s company, Canal Productions, had sued Robinson, who was hired as an assistant in 2008, after she quit in 2019. The company accused her of misusing office funds and theft, and the sensational details in the lawsuit made headlines. Robinson’s legal team had called the lawsuit baseless and said it was intended to “intimidate her into silence, destroy her reputation, and obliterate her job prospects.”

Robinson then countersued De Niro and his company, claiming she had been overworked and underpaid because of her gender. She alleged that the actor had bullied her and made her do “stereotypically female” tasks that were beyond the scope of her job.

In his trial testimony, according to The New York Times, De Niro vehemently denied wrongdoing but admitted he might have called Robinson a “brat” and a “b—-.” The Associated Press reported that after testifying that he had never yelled at his assistant, the actor erupted in anger on the stand, shouting: “Shame on you, Chase Robinson!”

And De Niro, notably, seemed to dismiss the gravity of Robinson’s allegations.

“It is so ridiculous — it is every little thing she is trying to get on me,” he testified, according to the Times. “It is like she implies that she is out in front of the building scrubbing the floors on her knees.”

But the accusations in Robinson’s lawsuit were stark, painting a picture of a consistently inappropriate and hostile work environment. Robinson accused De Niro of “unwanted gratuitous physical contact” and said he “stood idly by” as his friend slapped her butt. He allegedly assigned her duties like vacuuming his apartment and putting away his boxers. The suit claimed De Niro “denigrated, berated, bullied, and hurled expletives at her” in tirades, often when he was intoxicated.

After Thursday’s verdict, De Niro lawyer Richard C. Schoenstein said he was pleased that jurors had not found the actor liable himself, the Times reported.

Robinson testified that she has not been able to land a job since quitting and has struggled with anxiety and depression.

“I lost my life. Lost my career. Lost my financial independence,” she said, per AP. “I lost everything.”

The jury ultimately sided with Robinson. Not only was she awarded $1.264 million in damages, she also was found not liable for Canal Productions’ claims against her.