Robert De Niro’s lawyers brand his ex-assistant a thief who clashed with star’s ‘colorful’ girlfriend during closing arguments in their $12m ‘abusive boss’ trial

Robert De Niro’s lawyer has portrayed his former assistant as a thief who fabricated gender discrimination claims for money in fiery closing arguments for the actor’s $12 million civil lawsuit.

Defense attorney Richard Schoenstein described the final day of the trial as the “end of a movie” in his final call to jurors on Wednesday, as his movie star client De Niro came to the courthouse to watch the final scene.

Wearing a face covering, De Niro sat directly behind his former assistant Robinson, each flanked by their team of lawyers on the front benches.

“Welcome to the end of the movie… ’employee finds job stressful, but can never walk away,'” Schoenstein mocked.

Schoenstein described how Robinson reportedly engaged in a “cycle” of planning to leave Canal several times over the years, up until her final departure in 2019 — despite “whopping” salary increases to a final figure of $300,000.

“Miss Robinson is resigning and wants to be paid two years of salary, but if she can’t get that, she will ultimately have to file a lawsuit,” Schoenstein said.

“This movie is almost over, but here’s the surprise part: You get to decide how the movie ends.”

He accused her of “swiping every last air mile from the company’s account to her own” in the weeks before she left.

Schoenstein added that her claim of gender discrimination “comes down to back problems and the B-word” that De Niro occasionally swore at her.

“It’s okay if someone uses the B-word a few times over the years out of frustration, especially when the evidence shows you use the same kind of language yourself,” the lawyer said.

‘I know all too well that victims of discrimination do not immediately open their mouths.

“But you have to consider the totality of the circumstances.”

Schoenstein argued that Robinson merely experienced a clash of personalities with De Niro’s “colorful” girlfriend Chen — claiming that the “idea of ​​gender discrimination didn’t arise until lawyers got involved.”

“Gender discrimination based on gender is unfortunately still alive and well in this country, but we need to be able to distinguish between real gender discrimination and what happened here,” he told the jury.

Brent Hannafan, who represented Robinson, disputed in his closing statement that she was afraid to leave De Niro’s company because of his formidable influence.

“She was afraid that without a recommendation from one of the most powerful people in the entertainment industry, she wouldn’t have any chance of getting a job?” he said.

‘It turns out her fears were justified. She hasn’t had a job in four years.’

Hannafan added that De Niro allowed the use of company airline miles on personal travel, and that the Taxi Driver star said “I don’t know” or “I don’t remember” 140 times during his testimony.

On the issue of gender discrimination, Hannafan asked the judges to consider whether De Niro would have called Robinson a bitch if she were a man.

“Would he have asked her to scratch his back, would Tiffany Chen have been jealous of her, and would she have described her as a “very white single woman” if she were a man?’ Hannafan added.

“I ask that you rule in her favor and award her significant damages for the significant harm she has suffered.

“We believe the significant damages will be in the seven figures, possibly eight figures, but we leave it to you and your discretion to reach that conclusion.”

He echoed Robinson’s words on the witness stand about her reflections on her time as De Niro’s top aide.

“I lost my life, I lost my career, I lost my independence, I lost everything,” she previously said.

The jury – five women and three men – will receive instructions from the judge on Thursday morning before being sent out to decide how the trial will end.

Robinson is suing the Oscar-winning actor for $12 million over alleged gender discrimination. He claims he made her do stereotypically feminine work while paying her less than male colleagues, and made “creepy” requests of her to scratch his back.

The Taxi Driver star has denied her claims and filed a $6 million counterclaim, saying Robinson abused the company’s benefits by racking up five million airline miles for her personal vacations just before she left.

The closing arguments came after a psychiatrist hired by De Niro’s lawyers testified that she believes Robinson is “narcissistic and paranoid.”

Dr. Kimberly Resnick told jurors that Robinson suffers from an “inflated sense of self” and “sees damage where there is none” – and that these traits distort her “perception of the world.”

On Tuesday, Robinson’s psychiatrist, Dr. Goldstein, that she had generalized anxiety disorder related to her work at Canal.

The practicing psychiatrist said Robinson suffered from the “severe and often debilitating mental illness” after evaluating her in January 2019 and reviewing more than three years of medical records.

But Resnick disputed this analysis, saying she had identified “traits of narcissism, paranoia and grandiosity” in Robinson’s personality – although she did not say she would diagnose her with any related disorders.

Dr. Resnick, chief of forensic psychiatry at Mid-Hudson Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in New York, said she spoke with Robinson over Zoom for seven hours and analyzed her medical records.

On Wednesday, Dr. Resnick told the court that Robinson’s “perception” was that she was “targeted” by people in her workplace, and that she was “blacklisted” by new employers after leaving Canal.

The doctor said she believed this “perception” – which she at one point described as “spider” – caused Robinson’s “emotional distress” rather than her alleged treatment in the workplace.

Dr. Resnick disputed Robinson’s generalized anxiety disorder diagnosis, adding, “I observed some symptoms of anxiety in Miss Robinson, but I did not find that there was a clinical diagnosis of a mental disorder.”

She added that she felt that Robinson’s back problems and her reflux disease were the cause of her sleepless nights while working for the star, rather than an anxiety disorder.