FRANKFORT, Ky. — At least seven people had been scheduled to testify Monday in an evidentiary hearing to determine whether Louisville Democratic Rep. Daniel Grossberg violated the Kentucky code of ethics.

Three were women — Allison Wiseman, Lexington Councilwoman Emma Curtis and Sarah Ritter — who have publicly said they were sexually harassed by Grossberg, accounts detailed first in a story the Herald-Leader published last year.

Four were current or former employees at Foxys Gentlemen’s Lounge in Louisville, where Grossberg was banned for life after he allegedly solicited a dancer for prostitution and tried to grope another dancer on stage.

But that Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission hearing didn’t happen; at the eleventh hour, Grossberg and his attorney, Anna Whites, agreed to a settlement and $2,000 in fines instead.

In signing the settlement, Grossberg agreed that there is probable cause he violated the ethics code in two ways:

—Intimidation of a Louisville strip club that banned him for life. 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.

What those set to testify would have said

Those from Foxys — the owner, the former manager, a former bouncer and a current bartender — were ready to testify about the night Grossberg was thrown out and banned for life.

As he was being escorted out the strip club, Grossberg threatened to “shut this place down,” the Herald-Leader reported in September 2024. Foxys employees declined to comment on the record Monday after the settlement was reached.

Some of the people slated to publicly testify Monday were frustrated they were denied that opportunity, particularly after Grossberg mischaracterized that he’d been cleared of sexual harassment charges by the commission. That includes Wiseman and Ritter.

“While Grossberg and his attorney, Anna Whites, may claim otherwise as they attempt to spin the narrative in their favor, the evidence presented and this agreement are clear. Rep. Grossberg will be held accountable. Today, women won,” Wiseman posted later Monday afternoon on X.

“Thank you for believing us and believing women,” Wiseman said.

Curtis on Monday said she “never wanted to go public” with her accusations — the Herald-Leader initially published all three women’s accounts anonymously. They later identified themselves after Whites and Grossberg tried to undercut the credibility of their stories, Curtis said.

“The only reason we decided to go public was after weeks on end of disparaging remarks from Anna Whites and Daniel Grossberg about how these were baseless, faceless accusations,” Curtis said. “We felt that the only option we had to back these claims up and counter that narrative was by going public.”

Ritter after Monday’s meeting read from a statement she had prepared if she was called to testify, saying after she had troubling interactions with Grossberg and came forward with her allegations, she was diagnosed by a licensed mental health care provider with PTSD as a result of the experiences.

“I have suffered from common PTSD symptoms and co-occurring mental health issues, including self harm, nightmares, difficulty sleeping, debilitating anxiety, flashbacks, persistent fear and significant challenges in romantic and sexual relationships. Since the summer of 2024, my life has, at times, felt completely unmanageable. There were moments I did not want to be alive at all.

“The question has been raised repeatedly through this process as to whether Daniel Grossberg is capable of hurting women. I hope you have heard through my sworn testimony that the answer to that is yes, he is capable of harming women, human beings, through his hands, his manipulation, his deception and his cruelty.”

Ritter accused Grossberg of causing her “lasting physical and psychological harm,” and asked that her would-be testimony be taken “seriously and that you take seriously the harm done to me and countless other women by Rep. Grossberg.”

Ritter plans to “tell (her) entire story” at a later time, she said.

Wiseman said she’d heard more accounts about Grossberg’s behavior since going public, stating “we know plenty” of women who have not yet told their stories.

“What they don’t tell you when you come forward after being sexually harassed is how many people come forward to you saying they’ve been harassed and abused by that same person,” Wiseman said. “That is something — those stories, theirs, mine, countless others in this state — that when you hear that, those stay in your brain.

“It keeps you up at night because you realize how dangerous of a person you’ve been interacting with, and that the scope of which he has gone with women is insane. Someone like that should not be in Frankfort.”

What Grossberg, attorney said

Whites, Grossberg’s attorney, said the agreement was “a resolution” that favored her client in an interview after the hearing.

“It’s a recognition that everything else that was not specifically addressed in the agreement was dismissed, was set aside, or was found not to have probable cause… It eliminates all the dross and all the false claims that were made in the original complaints,” Whites said.

She also pushed back on the characterization that the ethics commission cannot investigate sexual harassment, even though it is not explicitly in the code.

“The ethics code already bans unethical behavior. Clearly, that includes sexual harassment,” White said. Though the ethics code bans a variety of unethical behavior, it does not specifically define or prohibit sexual harassment — a reality the commission has asked lawmakers to remedy in the current legislative session.

Whites and Grossberg made frequent reference to depositions of former House Democratic leadership members Cherlynn Stevenson and Rachel Roberts, saying they would release those depositions eventually, but “they need to be redacted because they make accusations of criminal behavior against other people who are not a party to this.”

Grossberg said he was interviewed during the investigative process a few times, but he didn’t believe those interviews counted as depositions.

Whites alleged the former leaders took members into a room and asked them if they’d heard “gossip or rumors” about him and if they found him “creepy or weird.”

Though he has been kicked out of the caucus for more than a year, Grossberg said he hopes to keep working with his fellow Democrats and has already “been working with them non-stop.” He added he’d be open to rejoining the caucus.

“I’m willing to have conversations, but just as I’m sure they’d have conditions, I’d have conditions. I mean, there’s no major acrimony between me and the current members,” Grossberg said.

In a statement Monday afternoon, House Democratic leaders made it clear Grossberg was not going to be welcomed back into caucus.

“We recognize that speaking up about inappropriate conduct takes courage,” they wrote. “Victims deserve to be heard and taken seriously. From the beginning, the House Democratic Caucus was clear that Rep. Grossberg’s conduct violated the standards expected of our members. He was removed from the House Democratic Caucus after his conduct violated our standards, and today’s agreement does not change that.

“We call on Rep. Grossberg to resign from his seat in the Kentucky House of Representatives.”

Does Grossberg hope to move on from the investigation?

“Largely,” he said.

“I’m committed… to doing better, being more careful about my interactions with people, the meetings that I take, asking for more feedback, making sure that people are comfortable. I don’t take one-on-one meetings with any person. There’s no longer any alcohol in my office whatsoever,” Grossberg said.

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