Canal Productions pays $1.26 million – The Hollywood Reporter

A New York jury has awarded Robert De Niro’s former assistant $1.26 million in her lawsuit against the star’s loan company, Canal Productions, for gender discrimination and retaliation, according to plaintiff’s representative Graham Chase Robinson. De Niro was not found personally liable in the case.

In addition, the jury rejected the actress’s claim that she stole five million frequent flyer miles from the company.

Jurors took nearly 4 hours during one day of deliberations to reach the verdict. De Niro was not present in the courtroom when the decision was announced.

The trial centered on the fallout that occurred when Robinson, who worked for De Niro’s Canal Productions from 2008 to 2019 in various positions from executive assistant to vice president of production and finance, left the company. The matter included accusations that De Niro subjected her to lewd comments and assigned her household duties, such as buttoning his shirt and washing his sheets, despite her lofty executive title.

After Robinson refused to sign a release once she resigned, De Niro sued her for stealing millions in frequent flyer miles and other property from Canal Productions. Robinson responded by filing her own lawsuit two months later, near the brink of the #MeToo movement, accusing the actress of gender discrimination and retaliation.

When De Niro testified on October 31, he said the case was “nonsense.” He stressed: “It is ridiculous.

When asked if he discriminated against Robinson by assigning her certain tasks, such as scratching his back, De Niro directly addressed his former employee, who was sitting in the room.

“Shame on you, Chase Robinson!” He said.

The legal drama attracted Tiffany Chen, De Niro’s girlfriend, when Robinson was asked to decorate his home. The two began exchanging texts and emails regarding various aspects of the residence. When she first met Robinson, Chen testified that she thought “[t]There’s something wrong with her, very seriously wrong with her. She said Robinson, who allegedly did not look her in the face, was moving furniture and trimming their trees without asking for permission. “It all seemed very jealous and territorial,” Chen testified.

In 2019, Chen demanded that De Niro find a replacement because she did not want Robinson in the house. She texted him saying, “I won’t be happy until she tells me she’s looking for her replacement” and “If you keep her, you and I will have problems eventually.” (Another former De Niro assistant testified that her job was terminated in 2003 based on At the request of his wife at the time. Although she was not an employee of Canal, US District Judge Lewis Lehman found that she may have been acting as an “agent” for the company.

Legal chaos erupted when De Niro rejected a suggestion from Robinson that she sign a release. He texted Chen, “Balls. Nerve. Rudeness. Sense of entitlement, how dare you!”

“We are pleased that the jury saw what we saw and returned a verdict in favor of Chase Robinson against Robert De Niro’s company, Canal Productions,” David Sanford, Robinson’s attorney, said in a statement. Not only did Ms. Robinson win her case against Canal, but the jury completely exonerated Ms. Robinson by finding De Niro’s allegations against her to be baseless.