School district investigated, found insufficient evidence in allegations against Grossberg
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Investigation into Louisville Rep. Daniel Grossberg
A Herald-Leader investigation into allegations of sexual harassment involving Rep. Daniel Grossberg, D-Louisville, revealed he intimidated and harassed multiple women in and around Kentucky politics. He also was allegedly aggressive and threatening toward dancers in a Louisville strip club.
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In the wake of news reports into his conduct with women, Jefferson County Public Schools conducted an investigation into embattled State Rep. Daniel Grossberg’s behavior on a high school trip he helped chaperone over the summer.
In a report obtained by the Herald-Leader through an open records request, a Jefferson County Public Schools Police Department Investigations employee wrote that they were first informed of allegations made against Grossberg on Aug. 22.
The investigative report, which is not dated, concludes that “there is an inefficient (sic) amount of evidence” to support the allegations.
All the allegations center around a summer break trip through EF Tours, a student travel program, wherein students visited Spain, Italy, France, and Switzerland.
The 46-year-old lawmaker’s wife, Erica Grossberg, is a teacher at Ballard High School.
Those allegations, listed in the report as coming from a JCPS employee, include that “several female students seemed concerned” with his behavior on the trip and that Daniel Grossberg and his wife drank excessively on the trip. The investigator later contacted two chaperones on the trip who did not corroborate those allegations, leaving the investigator to conclude there was “an inefficient (sic) amount of evidence” to the allegations.
Grossberg has been the subject of voluminous reporting on alleged harassment of women.
In response, most every powerful Democrat and Democratic organization in the state — Gov. Andy Beshear, Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, U.S. Congressman Morgan McGarvey, both Democratic legislative caucuses, the state party — has called on him to resign.
Last month, the Herald-Leader reported Grossberg has been permanently banned from a Louisville strip club for accosting a dancer and, weeks earlier, soliciting another for prostitution.
The Herald-Leader previously reported on allegations of harassing statements or messages made by Grossberg.
The Louisville representative is also the subject of an investigation by the Legislative Ethics Commission, which was kicked off when House Democratic leadership filed a complaint against him over the summer. The initial complaint included references to his allegedly harassing behavior as well as other ethical concerns over a vehicle purchase and fundraising.
Jefferson County Public Schools began its investigation two days after reporting from the Herald-Leader told the stories of three young women, all of whom were anonymous but have since gone public, involved in Kentucky politics who claim they were harassed by Grossberg.
One of those accounts, from Kentucky Young Democrats President Alison Wiseman, included a reference to “Ballard girls.”
Grossberg, who also sent Wiseman messages stating “I love you,” which she said made her highly uncomfortable, messaged her responded “there’s something about Ballard girls” punctuated by a winking emoticon, “;-).” The message was sent after inviting Wiseman out for drinks.
Grossberg at JCPS
JCPS’ release of the report is not the first reference to Grossberg’s alleged behavior on that particular trip.
In the House Democrats’ initial complaint against Grossberg, they make reference to a letter Grossberg sent students on the trip
In a motion filed defending himself, Grossberg defended the letter as “wholly appropriate and positive communication which could not possibly be mistaken for anything else.”
He and his attorney, Frankfort-based litigator Anna Whites, also shared the full text of the letter to reporters.
In the letter, Grossberg comments on the “honor” it was to chaperone the students, all of whom were women, according to the letter.
“Watching you all grow and blossom so much in such a short time warms my heart,” he wrote. “It is precisely why we do these travel programs. I hope to be able to continue supporting you in your future endeavors.”
He also offered the girls assistance in the way of letters of recommendation and “general life advice.” He added that he’ll “even help you out if you ever get in trouble, though I pray that never happens.”
According to a separate open records request to Jefferson County Public Schools, Grossberg has a long history of interacting with the school system both via his wife and independently.
For several years, Grossberg coached the debate team at Ballard, and at one point he sought a position expanding the debate program throughout the district.
Grossberg’s personnel file with the district indicates he served as a debate coach from 2017 to at least 2021 — he gained office in 2022, though he ran for the same seat in 2020. He made $2,757 annually in that role.
He was also paid as a “support staff substitute” in 2019 and 2020.
In 2022, when he was a functional representative-elect after winning the May Democratic primary in his House District, Grossberg sent a detailed proposal titled “A Vision for a Comprehensive JCPS Speech and Debate Program.”
The lengthy proposal was replete with data supporting the positive impact such programs had on student success, particularly minority and low-income students. It also included a three-year strategic plan and the creation of a Director of Speech and Debate position for the entire district.
Prior to that, some officials were under the impression that Grossberg wanted to get hired to run such a program.
The lawmaker sent James Craig, a Louisville attorney who serves on the school board, an email in February 2022 lamenting that “we have coaches who DID NOTHING (and even say so) receiving pay. We need to stop this.”
Craig forwarded Grossberg’s email to Amy Dennes, a former assistant superintendent, and added: “This guy has been on me incessantly about getting hired to run a debate program in JCPS. He claims we don’t have one. But I see other teachers on social media claiming to be debate teachers.”
In multiple emails from 2021, Grossberg references planning and running a summer debate camp that July. Also in 2021, he introduced himself in an email to the then-principal of Iroquois High School as someone who “oversee(s) the debate program in JCPS.”
This story was originally published October 8, 2024 at 1:56 PM.
