A lawsuit filed against actor Robert De Niro details a hostile work environment including sexually charged language, inappropriate touching, and bullying.
Graham Chase Robinson shared her tumultuous term of employment with De Niro’s Canal Productions in pages of lurid details filed as part of a $12 million lawsuit for gender discrimination and wage violations. The lawsuit, filed in a Manhattan federal courthouse on Thursday, says that Robinson, now 37, began as an executive assistant to De Niro, 76, in 2008 before eventually being promoted to Vice President of Production and Finance. She claims she was “forced to resign” in April of this year because of a myriad problems with her employer.
“Robert De Niro is someone who has clung to old mores. He does not accept the idea that men should treat women as equals,” the suit claims. “He does not care that gender discrimination in the workplace violates the law. Ms. Robinson is a casualty of this attitude.”
Robert De Niro was recently criticized for his on-air, obscenity-laced tirade against President Trump and Fox News during an appearance on CNN. “F–k em,” he said twice when asked about his thoughts on Fox’s coverage of Trump. “This is cable, so it’s not an FCC violation, but it is still a Sunday morning,” host Brian Stelter said, trying to regain control of the conversation.
The Oscar-winning actor was also caught on video earlier this year screaming at his personal driver for abandoning his post while De Niro attended a court hearing related to his pending divorce from Grace Hightower. “Where the f— are you man!?” De Niro can be heard saying on tape. “What’s the matter with you? Where are you?”
Robinson’s suit also details that De Niro treated her as a type of “office wife” who was expected to do “stereotypically female duties, like housework” while being subject to low wages and refusal of overtime. The lawsuit details a number of unprofessional behaviors on De Niro’s part, including that he would occasionally urinate while holding professional phone calls with Robinson and sometimes greet her in just a bathrobe or pajamas.
“Among other things, De Niro would direct Ms. Robinson to scratch his back, button his ties, and prod him awake when he was in bed,” the lawsuit also details. “De Niro also stood idly by while his friend slapped Ms. Robinson on her buttocks.”
Detailing De Niro’s notorious foul temper, Robinson’s suit details a voicemail in which her former employer berates her for not answering her phone. “You f—ing don’t answer my calls? How dare you! You’re about to be fired. You’re f—king history.”
Robinson claims De Niro’s joked about his Viagra prescription and suggested she could get pregnant using sperm from a married co-worker.
“What De Niro did to me was wrong,” Robinson said of her pending lawsuit. “The bullying, the inappropriate comments and the demeaning treatment grew so bad that the workplace became intolerable.”
De Niro filed suit against Robinson for $6 million earlier in the year on charges of company embezzlement and misusing work hours by binge-watching Friends before suddenly quitting. Robinson’s suit claims that De Niro’s allegations were an attempt to stop her from making his foul behavior public. “De Niro was enraged at the prospect of Ms. Robinson bringing a lawsuit challenging his behavior,” the complaint says. “So, he retaliated and struck first.”
Both lawsuits are still pending at this time.
