NEW: Judge Finds ‘Credible Evidence’ Of Abuse By Dem Senator’s Children Before Aide’s Suicide

A New York judge has concluded that “credible evidence” exists to support a lawsuit by the widowed husband of an aide who killed himself after allegedly being maliciously harassed by the children of a powerful Democratic U.S. senator.

The case, filed in Manhattan by the husband of Brandon O’Brien, 35, alleges O’Brien took his own life in response to homophobic and sexually aggressive teasing by the tween daughter and teenage son of Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), who sits on the powerful Senate Budget and Finance committees.

Disturbing revelations in the case describe how Wyden’s wife, whom O’Brien worked for, once maced her own son in an effort to control him after he flew into a rage. However, in doing so, she also accidentally sprayed O’Brien with mace.

The son uttered “abhorrent” slurs at O’Brien, calling him a “little zest kitten” and threatening that “his football team would rape him,” the suit states.

Through their lawyer, Wyden and his wife, Nancy Bass Wyden — who owns the famed Strand Bookstore in Manhattan — are seeking to dismiss the claim and have accused O’Brien of incurring hundreds of thousands of dollars in stolen credit card expenses and other thefts.

An administrative law judge ruled in favor of O’Brien on Feb. 28, citing a disagreement over unemployment benefits, where Bass Wyden largely didn’t object to O’Brien’s characterization of the belittlement he experienced at the hands of her children.

O’Brien took his own life in May 2024, two years after first signing up to work for Bass Wyden.

Thomas Maltezos, O’Brien’s husband, is seeking damages against Bass Wyden and her real estate company, citing the alleged abuse.

In the filings, Bass Wyden allegedly refused to pay for O’Brien’s unemployment benefits after he resigned in September 2024, stating that he only did so because he knew he was about to be fired for cause over theft, court records show.

But Administrative Law Judge Lorraine Ferrigno sided with O’Brien, the NY Post reported.

Lawyers for Maltezos say the decision “affirmed” O’Brien’s description of his treatment, some of which Maltezos claims to have witnessed when accompanying his husband and the senator’s children to trips to Disneyland.

Text messages from Wyden’s 11-year-old daughter and 15-year-old son referring to O’Brien as “zesty” could be characterized as a derogatory homophobic remark, Judge Ferrigno ruled.

Other texts were more explicit in their teasing. One referred to O’Brien as an “actual zest kitten,” while another read, “Can you please order me food, my little zest bunny?”

On several occasions, Bass Wyden admitted to admonishing her own son after he referred to O’Brien as a “f****t,” according to the judge.

“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,” the ruling states.

While Bass Wyden said she couldn’t recall some of the interactions with her children, “there does not seem to be much disagreement that the employer’s children, more specifically her son, harassed [O’Brien],” it continues.

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