Actor Robert De Niro exits federal court after attending closing arguments in civil trial on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey); Graham Chase Robinson, center, and her attorney Brent Hannafan, right, depart a federal courthouse in New York on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Peter K. Afriyie)
When Robert De Niro took the stand at trial in a federal lawsuit by his former executive assistant and vice president at his company, a civil case that accused the star actor and Canal Productions, Inc. of gender discrimination and retaliation, he yelled “shame on you” while acknowledging that on two occasions he asked Graham Chase Robinson to scratch his back.
“Ok, twice? You got me!” the actor shot back in court, while defending the back-scratch ask as something he “never” did with “disrespect or lewdness.”
Though De Niro the individual skated on liability in Robinson’s lawsuit, a federal jury on Thursday did find Canal Productions, Inc. liable for gender discrimination and retaliation — to the tune of $1.2 million.
The complaint filed in October 2019 alleged that De Niro subjected Robinson to “gratuitous unwanted physical contact,” made “sexually-charged comments to her,” and called her a “b—” and a “brat” while treating her like his “office wife.”
Robinson, the lawsuit said, began working for De Niro as an executive assistant in 2008 at the age of 25, hoping to “build a career in the entertainment industry.” After three years working in that role, Robinson became director of productions at Canal Productions, Inc., the complaint said. In 2017, she rose to vice president of production and finance.
Despite the apparent promotions, the now-41-year-old plaintiff said, De Niro continued treating her as if she was his “assistant.” Worse yet, the suit said, De Niro “would direct” Robinson to “scratch his back, button his ties and prod him awake when he was in bed.” The actor allegedly “stood idly by while his friend slapped Ms. Robinson on her buttocks,” yelled profanities at her in a voicemail, and made “vulgar, inappropriate, and gendered comments.” From the complaint:
He would joke with Ms. Robinson about his Viagra prescription. De Niro smirked to Ms. Robinson about his young paramour, who was around Ms. Robinson’s age. De Niro directed Ms. Robinson to imagine him on the toilet. He told Ms. Robinson that doing manual labor would “make a man out of you.” De Niro suggested that Ms. Robinson could get pregnant using sperm from her (married) male co-worker.
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Robinson said that she eventually quit her job “because she could no longer endure the hostile work environment,” the suit said; she warned on her way out the door through a lawyer that she was considering suing for discrimination.
The plaintiff said this “enraged” De Niro and a retaliatory $6 million lawsuit by Canal Productions, Inc. was filed to preempt her discrimination suit. The Canal Productions lawsuit accused Robinson of stealing $85,000 in frequent flyer miles, among other things, which she denied. Again, from her complaint:
Canal’s lawsuit against Ms. Robinson was filled with baseless, bad faith, and frivolous allegations. Canal falsely accused Ms. Robinson of doing things that she had never done and repeatedly claimed that Ms. Robinson had engaged in improper transactions when, in fact, De Niro himself had approved those transactions. To be clear, Ms. Robinson did not “loaf” or “binge-watch” during work, did not make unauthorized use of Canal’s credit card for personal expenses, did not make unauthorized use of Canal’s petty cash account for personal items, did not engage in unauthorized conversion of frequent flyer miles, and did not submit false information about her unused vacation allotment.
In sum total, Robinson said the ordeal “destroyed” her reputation and career, her “whole life,” and caused “substantial emotional distress, including feelings of depression, anxiety, panic, and humiliation.”
In court, De Niro testified that while he did berate Robinson, he was “never abusive, ever.”
“I got angry that one time,” De Niro testified. “I berated her. I wasn’t abusive. I was upset.”
De Niro’s legal team declined to comment at this time (disclosure: De Niro attorney Richard C. Schoenstein is a legal analyst who appears on the Law&Crime Network).
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