Robert De Niro’s company Canal Productions was found liable for gender discrimination and retaliation against his former longtime personal assistant, Graham Chase Robinson, in the pair’s civil trial.
A jury in New York City federal court reached the decision Thursday after nearly five hours of deliberations and ordered Canal — which the actor formed to look after his business and personal needs — to pay Robinson, 41, more than $1.26 million in damages.
De Niro, 80, is to make the payments in two installments of $632,142, according to the Associated Press.
However, the four-woman, three-man jury found him not personally liable.
Additionally, Deadline reported that Robinson was cleared of any financial wrongdoing in her 11 years as an employee for the Oscar winner.
Per the outlet, De Niro was not present for the hearing, but Robinson was. She reportedly hugged one of her attorneys upon hearing the verdict.
“We’re thrilled with the verdict. Couldn’t be happier. She’s been totally vindicated,” a member of her team told reporters outside the courthouse as Robinson smiled through tears.
Another one of her lawyers told People in a statement, “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.
“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.”
During the two-week trial, the “Goodfellas” star admitted on the stand that he “berated” Robinson and likely called her “petulant,” “snippy” and a “f—king spoiled brat,” but he denied screaming at her.
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“I’ve raised my voice,” he explained. “I don’t yell. You wanna dispute that? That’s one thing I don’t do.”
However, the “Godfather Part II” star raised his voice several times throughout his testimony, including when he called Robinson out after he was accused of not paying her fairly compared to another male staffer.
“Every little thing she’s trying to get me on is nonsense!” he exclaimed. “Shame on you, Chase Robinson.”
He went on to dismiss other allegations of gender-based discrimination as “ridiculous.”
De Niro also conceded that his girlfriend, Tiffany Chen, “might have been saying” disrespectful things about Robinson, but he implied it was acceptable because Robinson was being disrespectful first.
Robinson began working at Canal in 2008 and acted as the vice president of production and finance — which allowed her to sign off on grand expenses without approval — before she abruptly left the company in April 2019.
Canal then filed a $3 million lawsuit against her that August for allegedly misusing and misappropriating funds.
Two months later, Robinson returned the favor with a $12 million lawsuit citing workplace and sexual harassment as well as sexism.
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