Who is Nancy Bass Wyden? All about Ron Wyden’s wife amid deceased personal assistant’s family’s lawsuit

Oregon Senator Ron Wyden’s wife, Nancy Bass Wyden, and her company, Bass Real Estate LLC, are facing a new lawsuit, the New York Post reported. 

According to the outlet, the spouse of the entrepreneur’s former assistant, Brandon O’Brien, has sued her. The suit alleges that Nancy Bass Wyden’s children harassed O’Brien through sexually explicit conduct and comments. The plaintiff also alleged that the children used homophobic slurs while claiming that the behavior contributed to O’Brien’s suicide.

For those unaware, Nancy Bass Wyden, the defendant in the lawsuit, shares three children with the Oregon Senator. The couple has been married since September 2005 and welcomed twins – Ava Rose and William Peter Wyden – in 2007. Five years later, Nancy gave birth to her third child with the Democratic politician – a daughter named Scarlett Willa Wyden. 

Nancy Bass Wyden, 12 years younger than her husband, owns the 98-year-old Strand Bookstore in New York City. The historical shop is at 828 Broadway, at the corner of East 12th Street in Manhattan, NYC’s East Village. Nancy’s grandfather, Ben Bass, founded the bookstore, while her father, Fred Bass, also co-owned the business at one point. 

Nancy Bass Wyden’s former assistant passed away in May 2025

Brandon O’Brien committed suicide on May 26, which his spouse, Thomas Maltezos, confirmed on social media. He created a GoFundMe to raise funds for his funeral and memorial. Months after O'Brien's passing, Maltezos sued Nancy Bass Wyden, alleging she did nothing about her children’s behavior towards his spouse. 

According to the New York Post, the Manhattan Supreme Court filing alleged that Nancy’s son once threw things at Brandon. The papers further suggest: 

“[Nancy Bass Wyden allegedly] maced her son to restrain him but inadvertently maced Mr. O’Brien.” 

However, Bass Real Estate spokesperson labeled Thomas Matezos as “baseless and deeply misguided” and called it “riddled with false accusations.” The representative further remarked (via the New York Post): 

“It appears to be a continued effort to deflect attention from O’Brien’s own serious misconduct, including a documented pattern of theft from those he once worked for.” 

Plaintiff alleges daughter of Nancy Bass Wyden and U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) accused Plaintiff's since-deceased husband of stealing from Bass Wyden, incl with this message reproduced in Complaint.

Bass Wyden accused P's husband/her former personal assistant of stealing $650k. https://t.co/UX931OJoZn pic.twitter.com/oWNP8gSJXO

— Jeff Eager (@Jeff_Eager) September 22, 2025

According to the Post, according to an NYPD report, O’Brien quit on September 30, 2024, but was accused by Wyden of stealing $650,000 in "credit card and other thefts." Nancy Bass Wyden also hired a private investigator to look “into Mr. O’Brien’s personal life and business dealings,” Maltezos’ suit alleged. 

In the court papers, the plaintiff also accused Wyden of spreading rumors “to industry contacts and [O'Brien's] professional colleagues.” However, the theft case was allegedly dropped after O’Brien passed away, per the Post.