De Niro company says former employee spent six staggering hours of Netflix at job, sues for $ 6 million



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Robert De Niro's company, Canal Productions, sued a former employee on Saturday for $ 6 million for "breach of fiduciary duties".

The employee allegedly billed hundreds of thousands of dollars of personal expenses on the company card, allegedly transferred millions of miles from the company on her own account and reportedly spent hours watching Netflix, among other allegations in the lawsuit filed by NBC News.

The company is suing Graham Chase Robinson, former Vice President of Production and Finance, for "breach of fiduciary duties, breach of doctrine of unfaithful service and conversion," according to the complaint filed in New York. Robinson was promoted to his position around 2017, which included the task of ensuring that employees did not misappropriate company funds at the request of De Niro, according to the lawsuit.

"Robinson's position required Mr. De Niro to give him full confidence that she would discharge her duties and responsibilities in the best interests of Canal, by carefully monitoring the finances and the other employees, "said the prosecution.

But Robinson would have charged hundreds of thousands of dollars of personal expenses on Canal's American Express card, improperly used the company's petty cash fund to pay for his personal belongings, submitted false information to be paid for 96 days of "unused" vacation, and spent time in his business "watching staggering hours of TV shows on Netflix".

"For example, during the four-day period between Tuesday, January 8 and Friday, January 11, 2019, 55 episodes of" Friends "were visited (which were reported to 32 episodes on Saturday, January 12)," the trial says.

A trip to Los Angeles in 2018 was at least one case of alleged misuse of company funds, as described in the lawsuit.

Robinson reportedly spent more than $ 4,000 on the trip and allegedly used kilometers of Canal Productions faithful because she had claimed that she had to travel to Los Angeles to pick up and deliver autographed books on the coffee table inspired by the movie Taxi De De Niro, "Taxi Driver". various charity auctions and friends of De Niro.

In fact, the books were delivered after Robinson left Los Angeles, according to the lawsuit. Canal Productions said Robinson had accumulated the cost of meals and luxury accommodations needed to attend a birthday party.

Robinson would also have used the company's money to pay around $ 32,000 for personal taxi and Uber rides. She also transferred five million loyalty miles worth over $ 125,000 from the company's American Express account to her own personal account, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also said Robinson had approved his own expense reports to pay for items such as iPhones, a Louis Vuitton handbag, Whole Foods supplies and a dog sitter.

She also reportedly told the company's accountant that she had not taken any of her vacations for nearly four years and that she had instead been paying for the "unused" days. Canal Productions claims that e-mails reveal that Robinson had spent all his vacation days and often exceeded his daily allowance.

"Because of the above, Robinson has collected more than $ 70,000 by falsely claiming that she had not used 96 vacation days between 2014 and 2018," the lawsuit said.

Robinson had a salary of $ 300,000 when he resigned in April 2019.

The lawsuit seeks $ 3 million in damages for Robinson's "disloyalty and violation or doctrine of unfaithful servant", as well as $ 3 million in damages for the value of funds and assets "diverted" by Robinson while he was in the business.

Robinson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News.

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