Robert De Niro must pay million euros in damages to ex-assistant who he “treated like his office wife”

Hollywood actor Robert De Niro’s company must pay a former employee 1.1 million euros in damages. An American court decided this.

Graham Chase Robinson worked for Canal Productions, De Niro’s production company, for eleven years from 2008. First as the actor’s personal assistant, later she rose to become a producer and financial manager.

In 2019, she resigned and demanded damages of approximately 11 million euros for abuse, humiliation, and underpayment. In her damages claim, she wrote that De Niro had treated her as “his office lady,” and alleged that the actor “often made vulgar and inappropriate statements,” and assigned her “stereotypically feminine tasks.”

De Niro acknowledged in two days of testimony that he could be crabby, sometimes raising his voice in Robinson’s presence. He also confirmed that he had asked the woman to scratch his back twice, but dismissed the matter as nonsense. He further denied all of Robinson’s other allegations. “I was never offensive, never,” De Niro said. His company also filed a counterclaim, alleging that Robinson misused and withheld company funds. However, that claim was rejected by the jury.

The jury found Robinson’s accusations proven and decided that De Niro must pay her 1.2 million dollars (1.1 million euros) in damages. After the verdict, a lawyer for Robinson said he was “glad the jury saw what we saw.”