Embattled KY Rep. Grossberg settles with public reprimand, waives ethics hearing
The long saga between Rep. Daniel Grossberg and the Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission came to a quiet end on Monday when the Louisville Democrat and his attorney agreed to a settlement and reprimand just before a public hearing into his conduct was set to take place.
As part of the agreement, Grossberg accepted two $1,000 fines for two of the three instances where the commission found probable cause he violated the state ethics commission.
Several witnesses — including three women who alleged Grossberg sexually harassed them — had gathered in the Capitol Annex outside the commission’s hearing room in preparation to testify. None of them got to speak publicly due to the agreement.
The two counts that Grossberg was fined for are:
- Intimidation of a Louisville strip club that banned him for life after he allegedly groped a dancer. The order states that Grossberg denies it, “but stipulates there may be sufficient evidence to find a statutory violation.”
- His 2023 conduct toward Emma Curtis, now a Lexington city councilwoman, who says the behavior was sexual harassment. The agreement states that Grossberg “may have violated” the ethics code and laws around legislators’ standards of conduct, and noted that Grossberg “is actively engaged in counseling, therapy and skills training to ensure his behavior is not repeated.”
The third count was related to an allegation that Grossberg solicited a donation in exchange for a state benefit. The agreement states “there is not sufficient evidence to find a violation” in that case.
In a public statement at the meeting and in comments to the press afterward, Grossberg expressed relief.
“This has been the longest 18 months of my life,” Grossberg said.
Many of the people who were poised to speak at Monday’s adjudicatory hearing had been subpoenaed to testify. Commission Chairman Dave Nicholas thanked them for being there, even though they weren’t ultimately called on.
“This has been a long and difficult situation,” Nicholas said after the settlement was reached. “We have tried our best to do this in a way that takes care of our responsibility to the public and is considerate of Rep. Grossberg, personally.
“We’ve done all we can do to keep it as easy and as non-public, I guess, as possible,” he said.
Speaking to Grossberg, Nicholas said the commission hoped “you have learned from this and that you appreciate the idea that we tried to discipline you in a way that doesn’t severely damage you. I hope you look at this as somewhat of a learning experience.
“I hope your career as a legislator improves and gets better from this. We have all the confidence in you to do that.”
Scene at the hearing
A tense scene erupted in the hearing room after the agreement was adopted.
As Grossberg and his attorney, Anna Whites, were addressing reporters, three women who say Grossberg sexually harassed them interjected expressing skepticism at their remarks.
Those women, whose stories were initially reported anonymously by the Herald-Leader, are Curtis and Democratic political staffers Allison Wiseman and Sarah Ritter.
Ritter told reporters she wanted to testify Monday.
“There has been no justice throughout this entire process for the three of us and all the other women involved, and this was the best outlet that we had to do that. For him to drag us all the way here from Louisville and Lexington just goes to show how big of a narcissist he is, especially because he has said the whole time that he can’t wait for this public hearing that would clear his name,” Ritter said.
Grossberg claimed that the commission’s agreement proves it has “taken (his) side on its finding of facts.”
Because sexual harassment is not explicitly included in the legislative ethics code, the commission’s authority to move forward with charges or reprimand based on allegations of sexual harassment, like those included in previous Herald-Leader reporting, is limited.
Still, Grossberg cast the agreement as exonerative.
“After 18 months of investigation, I am relieved and grateful to have been fully cleared of these frivolous allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct. From the beginning, I maintained that these accusations were false, and the facts have now borne that out,” Grossberg said after the agreement was accepted.
Whites claimed “this case is not about sexual harassment,” but rather House Democratic leadership. She repeated claims that Grossberg’s neurodivergence was improperly handled.
“This case is about how minority leadership in the public treated someone with a disability. This case is about a House leadership office that had done away with the policies that had protected everybody, on all sides, for more than a decade. Being neurodiverse does not make you sexually harass anyone-,” Whites said before being interrupted by Curtis, Ritter and Wiseman.
“Bulls--t,” one of them said, interjecting throughout Whites and Grossberg’s statements. Another also interjected by calling Whites’ and Grossberg’s statements untrue and imploring them to “say it to our faces.”
Whites continued: “but (neurodiversity) can make you blurt out, ‘You look pretty, you smell good.’ Being neurodiverse means you miss social cues when someone is uncomfortable with a personal conversation. Being neurodiverse can mean that you look too long at someone, or don’t look at them at all.”
All three of the women who spoke with reporters expressed gratitude for Gov. Andy Beshear, Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman and U.S. Rep. Morgan McGarvey, top Democrats who called on Grossberg to resign in September 2024 after the Herald-Leader’s reporting.
Ritter had prepared remarks she intended to share in her testimony against Grossberg. She shared the conclusion of those remarks, saying that his actions toward her “caused lasting physical and psychological harm.”
“I did not feel safe refusing him. I did not feel safe leaving. I did not feel safe fully asserting boundaries,” the statement said. “I’m testifying today because these actions caused lasting physical and psychological harm, and because no one, especially someone elected to represent their neighbor should be permitted to behave this way without accountability.”
Ritter added that she has been diagnosed by a practicing mental health care provider with post-traumatic stress disorder and co-occuring mental health issues because of her experiences with Grossberg.
“He is capable of harming women, human beings, through his hands, his manipulation, his deception and his cruelty. I respectfully ask that this body take my testimony seriously and that you take seriously the harm done to me and countless other women by Rep. Grossberg,” Ritter said.
When asked if any of them would work to defeat Grossberg in the primary, Curtis said she planned to focus on her own race for reelection to city council. The others responded quickly.
“Absolutely,” Wiseman said.
“Tirelessly,” Ritter said.
A legislative fix?
This legislative session, one Democratic-sponsored bill is seeking to add sexual harassment to the ethics code. The sponsor, Sen. Cassie Chambers Armstrong, D-Louisville, said her bill was partially inspired by Grossberg’s case.
Grossberg told reporters Monday that he agreed with Armstrong’s bill and hopes it becomes law.
The commission previously offered Grossberg an agreement to end its investigation in June 2025. He rejected it.
That agreement, shared with the Louisville Courier-Journal, would have stated Grossberg’s meeting with Curtis, and “private social media requests to a legislative employee,” could have violated state law, the agreement would have involved a $4,000 fine against Grossberg.
It would have also dinged Grossberg with a public reprimand from the ethics commission and waived his rights to bring civil action against the commission, as well as anyone involved in investigating the complaints.
In the aftermath of the Herald-Leader’s 2024 reporting, top Democrats as well as the state party called on Grossberg to resign.
The Kentucky Democratic Party, in a brief statement Monday, said they stood behind their call.
This story was originally published February 2, 2026 at 12:40 PM.
