Robert De Niro’s former assistant Graham Chase Robinson has sued the actor for $12 million for alleged gender discrimination, harassment, and wage violations because he “made demands” on her that he “never imposed on males.” The lawsuit, which Robinson filed in New York on Thursday, comes just two months after De Niro sued Robinson for embezzlement.
According to E! News, Robinson started working as De Niro’s executive assistant in 2008, and during the past decade she worked her way up to the Vice President of Production and Finance in De Niro’s company. However, Robinson quit her job in April, and she says that De Niro always referred to her as his assistant, despite her promotion.
In a new lawsuit, Graham Chase Robinson — the ex-vp of Robert De Niro's production company — says he's an unapologetic sexist who initiated unwanted physical contact and "took a page out of the Bill O’Reilly playbook." https://t.co/p1UyZTnmVN
— Eriq Gardner ✍️ (@eriqgardner) October 3, 2019
Robinson also claims that she was the victim of “years of gender discrimination and harassment,” and De Niro and his company created a “hostile work environment.” She says that the legendary actor called her names like “brat” and “b*tch,” would make vulgar jokes about his Viagra prescription, and would get drunk and yell obscenities at her.
She also accused De Niro of asking her to scratch his back and tie his ties, and she says that he would go to the bathroom during phone calls and have meetings with her while wearing a robe or pajamas. Robinson says that De Niro would tell her to meet him alone in empty apartments and hotel suites, make “sexually-charged comments,” was verbally abusive, and would subject her to “gratuitous unwanted physical contact.”
Robinson’s lawyer says that De Niro’s treatment of his client was “Inappropriate, demeaning, abusive, and intolerable, and he needs to be held accountable.” The lawyer added that De Niro would made demands on Robinson that he “never imposed on males.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/B3Ggo32JBhl/
“De Niro required that Ms. Robinson be ‘on call’ all the time and insisted she drop everything to attend to his purported ‘needs,'” reads the court filing. “Once when she did not pick up his phone call, De Niro left Ms. Robinson a voicemail filled with expletives in which he called her a “spoiled brat,” said “how dare you f–king disrespect me,” and threatened her, saying, ‘You’re f–king history.”
Robert De Niro’s attorney says that the allegations made by Robinson against his client are “beyond absurd.”
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Robinson says De Niro treated her like his “office wife,” and she worked 11-hour days with no breaks or overtime. She is suing for $12 million in damages to cover back pay, front pay, compensatory damages, liquidated damages, and punitive damages.
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