Alameda County DA Pamela Price’s top deputy accused of workplace misconduct at previous job

A top deputy to Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price left his previous post in Marin County under a cloud of accusations, after at least eight deputy district attorneys said he made sexist remarks, created a toxic workplace and intimidated his subordinates, newly released records show.

The allegations against Otis Bruce Jr. — who at the time was the second-ranked prosecutor in Marin County District Attorney’s Office — came just months before he moved to take the same position in Price’s administration. His arrival in the East Bay marked one of the highest-profile hires for Price, a former civil rights attorney who quickly tasked the new chief assistant district attorney to help lead an office undergoing a widespread reorganization.

The revelations were first reported by the Marin Independent Journal on Monday, after the newspaper obtained copies of the complaints and the results of an investigation by an outside firm hired by Marin County.

The Oppenheimer Investigations Group, the newspaper reported, sustained findings that Bruce manipulated and intimidated deputy district attorneys and made sexist remarks and disparaging comments about deputy district attorneys.

Prosecutors who participated in the investigation said the district attorney’s office under Bruce’s supervision suffered from low morale amid an alleged culture of misogyny. Bruce did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

“Otis Bruce is known to prey upon the newest deputy district attorneys (DDAs) when they first enter the office,” one deputy wrote, according to the newspaper, “to set up a quid-pro-quo arrangement by intimating that he was solely responsible for getting them their jobs, that he is responsible for their advancement within the office, and that he is responsible for virtually everybody else advancing within the office. While doing this he also makes certain to disparage and undermine other DDAs in the office.”

Another prosecutor said that Bruce “would remind me that I was only here because of him,” according to the report obtained by the newspaper. “I later learned that Otis tells almost every new person in the office that to make them feel indebted to him and to manipulate us.”

Still other prosecutors claimed he made sexist comments, including by suggesting that women should only wear heels while at work because “heels were more professional,” a person told the investigator.

Bruce was placed on administrative leave on Sept. 13, 2022, about six weeks after the county hired OIG to conduct the inquiry. He retired Dec. 31 and days later went to work for Price. The OIG investigation concluded in February.

Shortly after taking his new post, Bruce filed a $12 million racial discrimination claim against Marin County, alleging that Frigoli and others leaders within the district attorney’s office retaliated against him after he challenged the firing of a Black prosecutor in June 2022. That prosecutor, Cameron Jones, later filed his own lawsuit against the county seeking $18 million in damages.

Bruce’s relationship with Price goes back years. She represented him in 2007, when Bruce filed a grievance about getting passed up on a promotion, the IJ reported. He accepted a $21,000 payment to drop the complaint.

Check back for more information as this story develops.