Robert De Niro and Graham Chase Robinson, a former employee of Canal Productions. Photos: AP, Sanford Heisler Sharp

A woman whom Robert De Niro accused of ripping off his production company claimed Thursday in a federal lawsuit that the actor's allegations were retaliation for challenges she had raised to targeted gender discrimination and workplace harassment.

Graham Chase Robinson, who most recently held the title of vice president of production and finance at De Niro's Canal Productions Inc., said in the filing that De Niro underpaid her compared to her male peers and assigned "stereotypical female duties," such as cleaning his apartment, waking him from bed, and picking out gifts for his children.

Robinson also claimed that De Niro forced her to work overtime without pay and directed profanity-laced tirades at her when she did not take his calls. She resigned from her post in April, according to the complaint, which was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

When Robinson raised the issues, De Niro refused to write her a letter of recommendation and launched a "retaliatory investigation" following her resignation, the filing said.

She is seeking more than $12 million in damages, including back pay, compensatory and punitive damages.

Canal Productions sued Robinson for $6 million in August, alleging that she was a "disloyal employee," who had charged "hundreds of thousands" of dollars in personal expenses to the company credit card and reimbursed herself from Canal's petty cash account for personal and luxury items.

Canal said that Robinson had requested the title and used her position of trust to misappropriate company funds for her own use.

According to Canal's suit, which was filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, Robinson binged 55 hours of the TV show "Friends" during work hours and submitted false information so that she could be paid for 96 days of unused vacation time.

Robinson, however, denied those claims Thursday, saying they were part of a campaign intimidate her from pursuing her own lawsuit. Robinson said she had suffered severe reputational harm and had been exposed to ridicule in the media as a result of Canal's allegations.

"De Niro was enraged at the prospect of Ms. Robinson bringing a lawsuit challenging his behavior," he attorney, Jeremy Heisler, wrote in the 19-page complaint. "So, he retaliated and struck first. On the heels of Ms. Robinson's complaints of gender discrimination, De Niro had Canal Productions file an abusive, preemptive lawsuit against her."

An attorney for Canal did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment Thursday.

Robinson's suit, which alleged violations of the New York City Human Rights Law, New York State Labor Law and the Fair Labor Standards Act, borrowed language from the #MeToo movement, which has exposed pervasive culture sexism and abuse among powerful men, particularly in the entertainment industry.

According to Robinson, De Niro was "someone who has clung to the old mores" of sex stereotyping, and "does not accept the idea that men should treat women as equals."

"He does not care that gender discrimination in the workplace violates the law," Heisler wrote. "Ms. Robinson is a casualty of this attitude."

Robinson is represented by Heisler and Alexandra Harwin of Sanford Heisler Sharp in Manhattan.

The case, captioned Robinson v. De Niro, has not yet been assigned to a judge.

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