Written by @saywooord
Robert De Niro’s company has filed a $6 million lawsuit against former employee Chase Robinson, accusing her of embezzling money and binge-watching Netflix on the job.
Variety reports De Niro’s Canal Productions also accuses her of racking up high hotel and restaurant charges, as well as using millions of De Niro’s frequent flyer miles for flights around the globe.
The suit filed Saturday, August 17, 2019, in a New York court, states Robinson was hired as an assistant to the actor in 2008. She was later promoted to vice president of production and finance of De Niro’s loan-out company, making nearly $300K annually. According to the suit, she left the company in April amid growing concern and allegations of “corporate sabotage.”
The company says she rarely came to work in the office and apparently spent much of her time watching Netflix. In fact, according to the suit, she spent four days in January watching 55 episodes of “Friends” off the streaming application. One of those same days, she allegedly ordered lunch and dinner from two expensive San Francisco restaurants, charging both meals to the company card.
In another incident, she spent another four-days in March allegedly watched 20 episodes of “Arrested Development” and 10 episodes of the series, “Schitt’s Creek.”
“Watching shows on Netflix was not in any way part of or related to the duties and responsibilities of Robinson’s employment and, on information and belief, was done for her personal entertainment, amusement, and pleasure at times when she was being paid to work,” as said in the suit.
The suit alleges that Robinson made more than $12K in unauthorized charges at Paola’s Restaurant over two years, in addition to more than $8K at Dean and Deluca and Whole Foods, and $32K for Ubers and taxis.
In her resignation email, Robinson allegedly cited concerns about her spending and other issues as “ridiculous.” According to the suit, she later drafted a recommendation letter for herself, which De Niro refused to sign.
