In a striking ruling, a New York judge has found credible evidence that the children of U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) verbally harassed their mother’s personal assistant with homophobic slurs, contributing to a hostile work environment before the assistant’s tragic suicide, as the New York Post reports.

This case centers on Brandon O’Brien, a 35-year-old personal assistant to Nancy Bass Wyden, owner of the Strand Bookstore, whose resignation and subsequent death by suicide have led to a wrongful death lawsuit against her real estate company, Bass Real Estate LLC.

O’Brien began working for Bass Wyden, who operates Bass Real Estate LLC, about two years before the events at issue unfolded.

Disturbing allegations surface

During his employment, O’Brien faced what a judge later described as repeated verbal abuse from two of Wyden’s children, an 11-year-old daughter and a 15-year-old son.

According to court documents, the children sent text messages to O’Brien containing derogatory terms such as “zesty” and “little zest bunny,” with the teenage son also using highly offensive slurs.

The judge noted that Bass Wyden witnessed some of these incidents and reprimanded her son for his behavior.

Escalating tensions lead to resignation

Prior to these messages, O’Brien had raised concerns about inappropriate comments and actions by the daughter, a complaint supported by the family’s male au pair.

The situation reached a breaking point on Sept. 30, 2024, when O’Brien received another hurtful message from the son, prompting his resignation.

Administrative Law Judge Lorraine Ferrigno, in a labor decision dated Feb. 28 regarding O’Brien’s unemployment benefits, ruled that he left due to harassment rather than any other cause.

Court findings support former employee's claims

Judge Ferrigno stated, “The credible evidence establishes that [O’Brien] voluntarily separated from his employment after he received a homophobic text message from the teenage son of his boss after experiencing prior incidents with the children and nothing changed.”

In a separate statement, the judge added, “Additionally, there seems to not be a dispute that the employer found her son’s homophobic statements abhorrent and chastised him for them.”

Bass Wyden contested O’Brien’s unemployment claim, asserting that he resigned to avoid termination for alleged theft and credit card fraud.

Tragic outcome, subsequent legal battles

A police report filed by Bass Wyden accused O’Brien of stealing approximately $650,000, though no criminal charges were ever brought against him.

Tragically, on May 26, O’Brien took his own life, leaving behind a widower, Thomas Maltezos, who has since filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Bass Real Estate LLC.

The lawsuit alleges that Bass Wyden spread damaging rumors about O’Brien, making it difficult for him to secure new employment and exacerbating his emotional distress.

Company denies allegations in strong response

Bass Real Estate has moved to dismiss the lawsuit, with a spokesperson calling it “baseless” and “deeply misguided.”

The spokesperson further claimed, “O’Brien was employed as a trusted personal assistant, with a range of responsibilities.”

They added, “His misuse of that trust, and his misrepresentation of the events that took place while in that position, further reveal the depth of his moral corruption and manipulation.”