Canal Productions, the production company of Robert de Nirowill have to pay 1.2 million dollars – nearly 1.1 million euros – to the actor’s former assistant, Graham Chase Robinson, for sexual discrimination.
This was decided this Thursday during a trial that ended this Thursday in New York (USA) in a session that It took five hours of deliberations, as reported this Thursday Variety.
The ruling makes the company responsible, but not to the 80-year-old interpreter of discriminating against the former worker or taking retaliation against her.
It all started with a lawsuit from the company itself against Robinson in 2019, in which he accused her of stealing millions of “miles” from airline frequent flyer programs, using the company credit card to buy luxury meals, and spending all day watching television instead of working.
De Niro assured that his former employee He saw 55 episodes of Friends in four days. The former assistant responded by suing the actor.
In her lawsuit, Robinson accused De Niro of not paying her enough for being a woman and giving her degrading and stereotypical tasks, such as washing her sheets. She also said De Niro was an abusive boss, forcing her to “scratch his back” – something that he himself acknowledged at trial, alleging that these demands were never of a sexual nature.
He was also displeased by the use of travel miles, which he valued at $60,000 – €56,200 – and explained that although he had given Robinson access to the frequent flyer program, I expected him to use it responsibly.
The woman worked for De Niro between 2008 and 2019, earning $300,000 a year, that is, about 282,000 euros. In addition, she was the vice president of her production company Canal Productions, a job from which she resigned after confronting the actor’s girlfriend, Tiffany Chen, whom he accuses of being a “sociopath” and of conspiring to get her fired from work.