Robert De Niro Legal Battle With Ex-Assistant Gets Heated

The actor’s company Canal Productions is engaged in a civil trial as they work to resolve a lawsuit brought by and against Robert De Niro‘s ex-assistant, Graham Chase Robinson. Robert De Niro appeared on the stand on Monday, October 30, as part of the trial process.

Robert De Niro – Says His Ex-Assistant Was Very Good At Making Valentine Day Cards

Robert De Niro’s company is currently being sued by the 80-year-old actor’s former assistant for the way they marginalized her role and pay due to her gender.

On Monday, De Niro was the first to take the stand and provide testimony during the trial at a federal courthouse in New York City.

During questioning from Robinson’s legal counsel, the star admitted that the ex-assistant “did anything and everything within the confines of her job“ but objected to “the implication that it is anything and everything in my personal life.”

In a heated back and forth about what the assistant’s job constituted, the Judge Lewis J. Liman asked De Niro and Robinson’s attorney Andrew Macurdy to lower their voices and speak more slowly.

De Niro seemed to be riled when he was asked to mention the duties Robinson did for his girlfriend Tiffany Chen, whom he claims he works together with.

In 2008, Robinson was hired as De Niro’s assistant at Canal Productions. In her 11 years of employment, she performed different tasks, including running operations at his townhouse, helping to furnish an apartment and creating Valentine’s Day cards for his then-wife, Grace Hightower. Making Valentine’s Day cards was something De Niro said she “was very good at.”

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Canal Productions – Claims Robert De Niro’s Long-time Assistant Abused Her Position And Mismanaged Funds

The legal battle between Canal Productions and Graham Robinson is expected to continue until Nov. 10. The lawsuit was filed in 2019, almost immediately after Robinson left the company, following her promotion to Vice President for Production and Finance.

After she left, Canal Productions filed a $6 million lawsuit against Robinson, accusing her of binge-watching Netflix shows and neglecting her duties. In addition, they claimed that she mismanaged “her employer’s fund for her personal gain.”

In reply, Robinson counter-sued De Niro and Canal Productions for allegedly violating the New York City Human Rights Law, claiming that De Niro treated her differently from her male counterparts by assigning her “stereotypically female job duties that were inconsistent with her job title.”

As per a release from Sanford Heisler Sharp, the law firm representing Robinson, she was paid less than a male employee due to being subjected to gender-based stereotypes.

The release then stated that Chen sparked dispute by “falsely [accusing] Robinson of being in love” with De Niro, and he “then retaliated after Robinson complained, stripping Robinson of her job duties and driving her to resign” in April 2019.

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