With Grossberg case in mind, lawmaker seeks to add sex harassment to ethics code
Days before a public hearing into state representative Daniel Grossberg’s alleged ethics violations, one Kentucky lawmaker is proposing to make clear that sexual harassment is a violation of the Kentucky Code of Legislative Ethics.
Senate Bill 143 from Sen. Cassie Chambers Armstrong, D-Louisville, would add language explicitly stating that legislators “shall not intentionally engage in sexual harassment of any legislator, legislative agent, or employee of the legislative branch of state government.”
Grossberg has been accused by multiple women of sexual harassment. The Herald-Leader reported on several instances of alleged sexual harassment, including an incident in his Frankfort legislative office and one in a Louisville strip club, in 2024.
Following that reporting, Grossberg was kicked out of the House Democratic caucus. The state Democratic Party, Gov. Andy Beshear and Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman all called on him to resign at that time.
Armstrong told the Herald-Leader that she filed the bill on Friday with the Grossberg case in mind.
“I’m aware that with some of the charges that involved very concerning allegations about behavior, it’s not clear that they are actionable by the ethics commission because of the way that our current ethics code is written,” Armstrong said.
Last year, the Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission found probable cause that Grossberg, a Louisville Democrat, violated the state ethics code on three different counts, including when he invited Emma Curtis, then a legislative issues advocate and now a member of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council, into his office and asked her sexually intimate questions and offered her alcohol.
Another count was for alleged attempts to obtain contributions in exchange for a benefit from the state and “intimidating statements or actions toward a private business.” The third count is a reference to statements Grossberg made when he was kicked out and banned for life from Foxys Gentleman’s Club in Louisville, following an incident where he tried to touch a dancer’s genitals on stage, according to multiple club employees.
The first public hearing into the ethics charges against Grossberg is set to take place on Monday, Feb. 2. It was initially slated for the previous Monday but was postponed due to the severe winter weather.
Sexual harassment is not, in and of itself, a violation of the ethics code, Armstrong said, even though legislators received training discouraging them from sexually harassing people every year.
That’s the problem she’s trying to tackle with the bill.
There is an inherent power imbalance between legislators and lobbyists seeking to make changes to policy and staffers seeking to remain employed, she said.
Given that context, it’s a no-brainer for ethical misconduct to include sexual harassment, she said. Kentucky has some of the strictest laws in the country when it comes to monetary matters, such as a lobbyist paying for a legislator’s meals or travel.
Armstrong, after careful study of the code, thinks it is too limited in scope.
“If you look at our ethics code, it really is just monetary misconduct that’s covered right now… We know that the harm inflicted on folks is devastating for the victims of sexual harassment. The fact that that’s not something that the ethics commission has jurisdiction over is just wrong,” Armstrong said.
Armstrong did not say if she’s spoken with GOP leadership, which controls the flow of legislation in and out of the Senate floor, about the bill yet.
“I look forward to having those conversations,” Armstrong said. “I would hope this is something that we can have bipartisan support for.”
Last year, Republican Rep. Kim Holloway of Mayfield filed a bill with the same language. That bill never got a committee vote and Holloway has yet to file similar legislation this year.
One other bill has been filed to make changes to legislative ethics: House Bill 272 from Rep. Ken Upchurch, R-Monticello.
Upchurch’s bill would tie the commission much more closely to the House Speaker and Senate President. The bill takes away the commission’s authority to hire an executive director, set compensation of staff and fire employees and gives that to the House Speaker and Senate President.
The bill would also allow for sanctions against people filing ethics complaints if the complaint is “frivolous,” if it was “filed for an improper purpose,” or if it contains “factual allegations which lack any evidentiary support.”
Upchurch’s bill has been assigned to a committee, but not received a hearing or vote.
