Robert De Niro Seeks Lawsuit Dismissal  5/20/07

Robert De Niro is asking a California judge to dismiss a lawsuit against him, filed by an insurance company.

The Fireman's Fund Insurance Company filed suit against De Niro last year (06), accusing the actor of fraud and deceit around the time of his 2003 cancer diagnosis.

The Fireman's Fund paid Fox studios $1.87 million after De Niro was forced to delay filming of Hide And Seek so he could receive treatment for prostate cancer.

Days before his diagnosis, De Niro signed an insurance certificate, declaring he had never been "diagnosed with or treated for a disorder of (among other things) the prostate glands".

The Fireman's Fund have accused De Niro of misrepresenting his health when he signed the certificate on 13 October 2003, the New York Daily News reports.

De Niro's lawyer Robyn Crowther says, "They are an insurance company; they had an obligation to pay his claim. Now they're trying to get him to pay."

De Niro insists he was unaware he had cancer until 15 October 2003, although he had undergone a biopsy on 10 October.

His spokesman Stan Rosenfeld tells TMZ, "This was filed in response to Fireman's Fund's decision to sue Robert De Niro because he was diagnosed with cancer."