Robert De Niro testified Monday on day one of many trial within the gender discrimination case towards him, introduced by his ex-assistant, Graham Chase Robinson.
In August 2019, the Killers of the Flower Moon star, 80, sued Robinson, 41, for breach of responsibility and conversion amongst different claims, alleging she binge-watched Buddies on the job and stole hundreds of thousands of frequent-flyer miles from him.
In response, Robinson filed a countersuit two months later during which she claimed her former employer subjected her to gender discrimination, retaliation and poisonous office situations. Among the many points, she says De Niro made vulgar feedback to her and assigned her to home duties corresponding to buttoning his shirt and washing his sheets.
She additionally claims De Niro tried to persuade the Manhattan District Lawyer’s Workplace to prosecute her for stealing from the actor’s loan-out firm.
De Niro was photographed sporting a polo, a blazer and a black masks as he walked out of a New York Metropolis courthouse following his first day of testimony the place he rebutted Robinson’s accusations.
Whereas sitting on the stand, De Niro answered questions on texts and emails between himself and Robinson, a lot of them inquiring about her whereabouts whereas she was nonetheless working for him.
He appeared restrained however pissed off all through the interplay earlier than he ultimately yelled out: “That is all nonsense!”
Robinson’s attorneys, Brent Hannafan and Andrew Macurdy, claimed that the actor was a really demanding employer and that he put unreasonable expectations on his assistant.
De Niro and his lawyer, Richard Schoenstein, denied these assertions and countered that he merely needed to be saved within the loop on her schedule.
Robinson labored for De Niro starting in 2008 and claims she labored for him faithfully till she was “pressured to resign” in April 2019.
For his or her half, Hannafan and Macurdy addressed the jury and instructed the group that Robinson was in the course of a nasty scenario and that the actor’s girlfriend, Tiffany Chen, was jealous of her and needed her out.
“This bi**h must be put in her f**king place,” one of many attorneys mentioned, studying an e-mail Chen despatched purportedly about Robinson.
Robinson’s attorneys additionally declare that De Niro made it unimaginable for her to stop as a result of he would not give her a referral if she tried to go away.
Schoenstein, nonetheless, instructed the jury that the case would embody a variety of twists and turns and to not consider all the things they heard from Robinson and her counsel.
The lawyer for the Raging Bull actor claims that Robinson, who made $300,000 yearly with perks, was not loyal and that she broke De Niro’s belief and performed herself inappropriately.
The lawyer additionally alleged that Robinson transferred 5 million frequent-flyer miles simply months earlier than she left the corporate and that others have been so completely satisfied when she left that they celebrated her departure.
De Niro shall be again in courtroom on Tuesday, Oct. 31, at 9 a.m.
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