Robert De Niro’s celebrity hotspot Nobu has hit back over the $500,000 sexual harassment case it is facing.
A restaurant hostess who is suing the ‘Taxi Driver’ actor’s chain over alleged sexual harassment from staff and patrons, was told she only has herself to blame, lawyers for the sushi eatery have blasted.
In her lawsuit, the 23-year-old woman – who is identified as Jane Doe – says she and other female workers were forced to dress in “skimpy clothes” and “brush off unwanted sexual advances from managers and patrons”.
She adds she was repeatedly touched by a manager who is referred to as Marcus in the case.
Papers seen by DailyMail.com show the legal team for the restaurant say the hostess “approved, authorised, acquiesced, consented to, caused or ratified the conduct alleged in the complaint, to the extent any such conduct occurred”.
The woman first filed her suit in September and is seeking $500,000 in damages – while a second female Nobu staffer, known only as Jane Doe 2 – is also seeking $500 million over similar claims.
Nobu, which is part-owned by ‘The Irishman’ star De Niro, 80, is asking for the first case to be dismissed and for the hostess to pay the restaurant’s legal bills, plus compensation.
It comes as the actor was caught in a court fight after being successfully sued for gender discrimination and sexual harassment by his former assistant.
His company Canal Pictures was ordered to pay Graham Chase Robinson $1.2 million after she claimed he repeatedly verbally abused her and asked her for back-scratches, which she branded “creepy”.
There are more than 50 Nobu restaurants around the world and its attorneys Kevin Wattles and Rachel Marko say the restaurant “generally denies” all of Jane Doe 1’s allegations against it and says it is not liable for damages.
