US actor Robert De Niro, left and his wife Grace Hightower, seen, during the opening of a One&Only hotel, in Cape Town, South Africa, Thursday, April 2.

A nanny who was fired by Robert De Niro has sued the actor for more than $40,000 in overtime pay.

Alexis Barry says in court papers that she was never paid for more than 750 hours of overtime and never took 10 vacation days. She began working for De Niro and his wife, Grace Hightower, in August 2006, and says she was fired 10 months later — after she said she was going to quit. The couple have an 11-year-old son.

Barry says she is owed more than $40,000. She filed a lawsuit Friday in Manhattan's state Supreme Court.

De Niro spokesman Stan Rosenfield says he can't comment because he hasn't seen the lawsuit.

(China Daily/Agencies, April 5, 2009)