Hollywood star Robert De Niro has lost his court battle with a former assistant and must pay her $1.2 million in damages.
As Slay News previously reported, De Niro was accused of abusive behavior by his former top assistant.
De Niro was in court over an employee discrimination trial brought by Graham Chase Robinson.
Details of the case emerged from court documents that include allegations from 41-year-old Robinson.
Robinson alleges that 80-year-old De Niro made demands from her that she described as “creepy” and “disgusting.”
She alleges that the actor repeatedly made inappropriate requests including asking her to scratch his back several times.
Robinson worked for De Niro for 11 years until 2019.
The Oscar-winning actor was accused of gender discrimination toward Robinson during her employment at his production company, Canal Productions.
Robinson was awarded two identical damages payments of $632,142.96 for gender discrimination and retaliation, according to The Daily Mail.
She originally sought $12 million.
The settlement amount was meant to represent four years of lost work based on her previous salary.
Robinson claims she was unable to find a new job after being let go from De Niro’s employment and faulted him for it.
De Niro counter-sued his former employee for $6 million to account for the airline miles she allegedly stole from him.
However, Robinson was found not liable.
The outlet reported that Robinson was visibly overjoyed after the verdict was read and smiled at the jurors as they left the courtroom.
“We are delighted that the jury saw what we saw and returned a verdict in Chase Robinson’s favor against Robert De Niro’s company, Canal Productions,” Robinson’s lawyer David Sanford said.
“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 was not present for the reading of the verdict.
However, his attorney also expressed that it was “gratifying” that De Niro was not liable for the full $12M.
“I’m not going to comment on the verdict – we have to analyze the damage amount,” Richard Schoenstein said.
“It strikes me as a compromise,” he added.
“Obviously, they were seeking $12 million and they got $600,000.
“I am very grateful for the service of the jury.
“We are really happy they separated out Bob from this.
“It is a dispute between an employee and their former employer.”
Robinson began working for De Niro’s company in 2008 as an executive assistant with a $75,000 salary.
She exited in April 2019 with the title of VP of Production and Finance and a $300,000 salary.
Robinson accused De Niro of calling her a “b*tch” on multiple occasions and berating her for minor infractions.
Robinson also claimed female employees were treated differently than their male counterparts.
“Female employees were expected to be on call 24/7 for Bob,” she said during her testimony.
“He didn’t expect male employees to be on call for him.”
“I gave this job my life,” she claimed.
“I didn’t have kids because I worked.”
Robinson’s psychiatrist said Robinson suffered from a “serious and often disabling psychological condition” including insomnia and memory loss due to the trauma of losing her livelihood and reputation.
However, a psychiatrist hired by De Niro’s lawyers said the ex-staffer was “narcissistic and paranoid.”
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