Probable cause Rep. Daniel Grossberg violated KY ethics code, commission finds
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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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The Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission found probable cause that Rep. Daniel Grossberg violated the state ethics code on three different counts, including when he invited a young woman to his legislative office, asked her sexually intimate questions and offered her alcohol.
There also exists probable cause that Grossberg, a Louisville Democrat, violated the Kentucky Code of Ethics when he made “intimidating statements (and) actions toward a private business.”
In a June 17 commission hearing, the former manager of a Louisville strip club said when he kicked Grossberg out and banned him for life for attempting to touch a dancer’s crotch while she was on stage, Grossberg made threatening and aggressive statements, including that he could use his power as a lawmaker to shut the place down — allegations that were first made public in a Herald-Leader story last year.
The nine-member commission voted Tuesday on each of the individual counts whether to dismiss the complaints or find probable cause, capping a nearly four-hour deliberation. Probable cause is a legal standard that means there exists a reasonable belief, based on the evidence and circumstances, that wrongdoing has occurred.
Made up of six men and three women, most commission members were appointed in the last five years by Republican leadership. The longest-serving member, Chair David Nicholas, was appointed in 2018 by Senate President Robert Stivers, a Republican.
The commission first began investigating Grossberg a year ago at the request of former House Democratic leadership, following an initial report from the Herald-Leader that he’d made multiple women uneasy or uncomfortable.
The commission did not definitively conclude Grossberg violated the state ethics code, only that there’s enough evidence to suggest he may have violated the ethics code and a deeper probe into the allegations against him is necessary.
The next step is a public adjudicatory hearing.
Grossberg and his attorneys also have the option to accept what amounts to a plea deal to avoid a full-fledged adjudicatory hearing, but deliberation in that agreement will be public.
The commission decided Tuesday there is probable cause of the following:
- Grossberg violated the ethics code “through his conduct relating to intimidating statements or actions toward a private business,” which the commission agreed on unanimously.
- Grossberg violated the ethics code “through his conduct related to attempts to obtain contributions in exchange for possible state catering, vendor, business or private company.” The vote was 8-1, with Arnold Simpson casting the no vote.
- Grossberg violated the ethics code “through his conduct related to his interactions with an individual at the Capitol Annex, before, during and after a committee meeting in July 2023 and in his office at the annex involving inappropriate treatment of that person.” Simpson was again the lone “no” vote.
Grossberg invited Emma Curtis, now a Lexington-Fayette Urban County councilwoman, to his legislative office in July 2023 after a committee meeting. He offered her alcohol, asked her questions about her gender identity, her sexuality, and her preferred way of having sex before sharing details about his own sex life. The interaction made Curtis, who is transgender, feel “trapped,” she said last year.
Grossberg sat in the front row at the commission’s July 8 meeting, flanked by his attorneys Anna Whites and Thomas Clay.
He and his attorneys declined to comment or answer questions after the commission’s votes.
The lawmaker was first publicly accused last year by multiple women of inappropriate and harassing behavior that dated back to college. The commission on June 17 heard from two women who said they’d been sexually harassed by Grossberg — experiences first detailed last year in the Herald-Leader. Two members of management at Foxys Gentlemen’s Club that banned Grossberg for life also testified at that meeting that Grossberg threatened and intimidated staff when they kicked him out.
Grossberg was afforded ample time to refute and defend the claims made against him — well over two hours on June 17 and close to two hours on Tuesday. Grossberg and his attorneys were then asked to leave the room, and the commission deliberated for four hours.
If Grossberg doesn’t agree to settle, the future evidentiary hearing could function like a jury trial, complete with testimony, discovery, and opening and closing arguments. From there, the commission will decide whether Grossberg officially violated the Kentucky Code of Ethics.
Though multiple women have accused Grossberg of sexual harassment, sexual harassment is not considered a form of ethical misconduct under the current Kentucky Code of Ethics, which is what the commission is statutorily tasked with upholding.
Lawmakers have had the opportunity to amend the code as recently as last year with House Bill 371, but the bipartisan-backed bill never received a committee hearing.
The current ethics code, which originally dates back to the early 1990s, includes rules and specific prohibitions against conflicts of interest, inappropriate campaign contributions and receiving certain financial compensation or gifts.
But there’s no explicit prohibition against sexual harassment, or language that formally categorizes sexual harassment as unethical behavior, ethics commission Executive Director Emily Dennis told the Herald-Leader last week.
The commission last month formally called on the General Assembly to change that by passing a law to amend the ethics code in its 2026 regular session.
The commission encourages lawmakers to “create a comprehensive ethical prohibition against sexual harassment by legislators and legislative agents against legislative branch employees, legislators or legislative agents. This would include the following:
- Specifically define ‘sexual harassment’ as actions that violate either Kentucky or federal statutes, regulations or case law relating to protected classifications
- Prohibit legislators and legislative agents from engaging in sexual harassment against an employee of the legislative branch, legislator or legislative agent and provide that a violation is ethical misconduct.”
‘Separate legal actions’
The commission launched its probe into Grossberg at the request of former Democratic House leadership last July, after the first report from three women who received text messages from Grossberg, often late at night, commenting on and complimenting their physical appearances.
Three more young women, who worked in politics-adjacent jobs in Frankfort, recounted in-person experiences with Grossberg and shared dozens of texts and other electronic correspondence they said made them feel “deeply uncomfortable” and “increasingly unsafe.”
After another Herald-Leader report showed Grossberg had been banned for life from Foxys, Democrats across the state at all levels called for him to resign, including Gov. Andy Beshear and Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman. Grossberg refused.
In early June, Grossberg was offered — and rejected — a deal with the ethics commission, which found “probable cause may exist to believe” Grossberg violated the state’s ethics code twice, including once when he invited a “volunteer issue advocate” to his office, drank alcohol and asked personal probing questions.
Had Grossberg signed the offer, the commission would have dismissed the other complaints against him that it couldn’t substantiate. The order would have required him to receive a public reprimand, pay a $4,000 fine, enroll in mental health treatment and waive his right to bring civil action against the commission.
Grossberg’s refusal to agree to that offer spurred the June 17 hearing, wherein the commission ordered or subpoenaed four individuals to testify: Kentucky Young Democrats President Allison Wiseman, Curtis, and the co-owner and former manager of Foxys.
The Herald-Leader interviewed seven staff at Foxys or who were confidantes of dancers at Foxys to corroborate that story. Grossberg had previously solicited another for prostitution, multiple staff and dancers told the Herald-Leader last year.
Grossberg, who has continued to deny any wrongdoing, testified in his defense at the June meeting and again on Tuesday.
Intent on fighting the allegations against him, he attempted to stop the proceeding by filing a lawsuit in Franklin Circuit Court in June, asking for a judge to intervene. He has claimed there is a coordinated cabal bullying and discriminating against him because he’s Jewish and neurodiverse. A judge denied his request, but Grossberg has the option to appeal.
Grossberg also signaled suing news outlets for reporting on the accusations, writing in a footnote of his lawsuit, “even more troubling is that the Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission has been aided in its attack on Daniel’s reputation by members of the media. Of course, those matters will eventually be responded to in separate legal actions.”
This story was originally published July 8, 2025 at 5:12 PM.
