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Robert De Niro’s production company was found liable on Thursday by a jury for gender discrimination and retaliation, and ordered to pay $1.3 million (€1.2 million) to the Hollywood star’s former assistant.
The 80-year-old actor and director was not found personally liable by the jury in New York after a two-week trial.
Graham Chase Robinson (41) had accused De Niro of workplace abuse during the time she worked for him between 2008 until her resignation in 2019, claiming he subjected her to sexually inappropriate behaviour.
She had been seeking $12 million in damages for emotional distress and reputational harm, alleging she was left jobless and unable to recover from the trauma of her job.
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After deliberating for several hours, the jury found his production company, Canal Productions, liable for gender discrimination and retaliation and awarded Robinson $1.264 million in damages on both counts. Robinson was completely exonerated and not found guilty of any of the claims against her.
On Tuesday, De Niro had shouted “Shame on you!” at his former executive assistant and vice-president, as he testified at the trial, which he attended for three days. He was not in court for the verdict.
“We are delighted that the jury saw what we saw and returned a verdict in Chase Robinson’s favour against Robert De Niro’s company, Canal Productions,” Robinson’s lawyer David Sanford said in a statement.
“Not only did Ms Robinson win her case against Canal but the jury completely vindicated Ms Robinson by finding De Niro’s claims against her to be without merit.”
Robinson did not make any comment as she left the Manhattan federal court, but Mr Sanford said he doubted that his client, who had worked for De Niro for 11 years until 2019, would have any further contact with the actor “for the rest of their lives”.
Sanford speculated that jurors had awarded Robinson $1.3m – but not the full amount she had sought – because they had calculated what she had lost in earnings since she had been dismissed.
“I think the jury paid her for the last four years when she hasn’t been working,” Sanford said.
During the trial Robinson testified that De Niro and his girlfriend, Tiffany Chen, teamed up against her to turn a job she once loved into a nightmare.
In two days in the witness box, 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 box many of the claims Robinson made to support her $12m 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: “Okay, 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!”
Robinson testified that she quit her job during an “emotional and mental breakdown” that left her overwhelmed and feeling like she had “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.”
On Thursday Robinson smiled and hugged all her lawyers after the jury exited the room. She also smiled as the verdict was being delivered.
Robinson’s lawyer, David Sanford, told reporters: “We are delighted that the jury saw what we saw and returned a verdict in Chase Robinson’s favour against Robert De Niro’s company, Canal Productions.
“Not only did Ms Robinson win her case against Canal but the jury completely vindicated Ms Robinson by finding De Niro’s claims against her to be without merit.”
De Niro’s attorney Richard Schoenstein said outside court that lawyers will try to reduce the size of the award with post-trial motions. – Guardian/AP
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