Robert De Niro’s firm has been ordered to pay greater than $1.2m (£982,000) to his former private assistant after it was discovered to have engaged in gender discrimination and retaliation – however a jury discovered the star was not personally accountable for the abuse.
A choose ordered De Niro’s firm, Canal Productions, to make two funds of $632,143 to his long-time private assistant Graham Chase Robinson.
De Niro, 80, who spent three days on the two-week trial, together with two within the witness field, has been ensnared in duelling lawsuits with Ms Robinson since she stop in April 2019.
Ms Robinson, 41, stated De Niro and his girlfriend Tiffany Chen teamed up towards her to show a job she as soon as liked right into a nightmare.
De Niro and Ms Chen every stated throughout proof that Ms Robinson turned the issue when her aspirations to maneuver past Canal Productions led her to make escalating calls for to stay within the job.
In two days within the witness field the actor advised jurors he boosted Ms Robinson’s wage from lower than $100,000 (£82,000) yearly to $300,000 (£245,000) and elevated her title to vp of manufacturing and finance at her request – regardless of her tasks remaining largely the identical.
De Niro stated when she stop Ms Robinson stole about $85,000 (£70,000) in airline miles from him, betrayed his belief and violated his unwritten guidelines to make use of widespread sense and at all times do the fitting factor.
At occasions De Niro acknowledged from the witness field lots of the claims Ms Robinson made to help her $12m (£10m) gender discrimination and retaliation lawsuit.
He agreed he had requested her to scratch his again on at the least two events, dismissing a query about it with: “Ok, twice? You got me!”
He admitted he had berated her, although he disputed ever aiming a profanity her means, saying: “I was never abusive, ever.”
He additionally denied ever yelling at her, saying each little factor she was attempting to catch him with was nonsense and that, at most, he had raised his voice in her presence however by no means with disrespect.
Then, he checked out her sitting between her attorneys within the courtroom and shouted: “Shame on you, Chase Robinson!”
Read extra from Sky News:
Hollywood stars have fun finish of longest actors’ strike in historical past
Bruce Willis’s daughter shares replace on his ‘aggressive’ dementia
‘Emotional and psychological breakdown’
Ms Robinson stated she stop her job throughout an “emotional and mental breakdown” that left her overwhelmed and feeling like she had “hit rock bottom”.
She stated she has since suffered from anxiousness and melancholy and has not labored in 4 years regardless of making use of for 638 jobs.
“I don’t have a social life,” she stated. “I’m so humiliated and embarrassed and feel so judged. I feel so damaged in a way. … I lost my life. Lost my career. Lost my financial independence. I lost everything.”
‘A civil rights trial’
De Niro’s attorneys sued Ms Robinson for breach of loyalty and fiduciary responsibility even earlier than her lawsuit was filed towards him in 2019.
They sought $6m (£5m) in damages, together with a return of the 5 million airline miles.
In a closing argument on Wednesday, De Niro’s lawyer Richard Schoenstein stated the miles that have been taken have been value about $85,000. He stated jurors might order Ms Robinson to return a few of her wage, however, he added: “We’re not looking for you to punish her.”
In his closing, Ms Robinson’s lawyer Brent Hannafan referred to as the 2 weeks of court docket proceedings a civil rights trial and urged jurors to return a verdict “not just for Ms Robinson, but for all civil rights litigants”.
De Niro has received two Oscars and is presently starring within the Martin Scorsese movie Killers Of The Flower Moon.
Source: information.sky.com”