Rep. Daniel Grossberg, D-Louisville, speaks on the Kentucky House floor, Feb, 15, 2024. (LRC Public Information)
Embattled Democratic state Rep. Daniel Grossberg wants to take his case against the Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission to federal court.
Attorneys for Grossberg of Louisville filed a motion to dismiss his case in Franklin County Circuit Court earlier this month. The commission found “probable cause” that Grossberg, who has been accused of inappropriate behavior toward women, committed ethics violations.
Grossberg’s attorneys wrote that Grossberg’s constitutional rights under the 7th Amendment were violated, which prompted the request to go to federal court. Their argument relies on a 2024 U.S. Supreme Court decision involving the Securities and Exchange Commission, which said that when the commission seeks civil penalties against a defendant for securities fraud, the defendant has a right to a jury trial.
Thomas Clay, one of Grossberg’s lawyers, told the Kentucky Lantern Wednesday morning that the 2024 decision says if an administrative agency acts “as judge, jury and executioner on a citizen,” then the citizen has a right to a jury trial. The high court ruling may also impact other administrative agencies with internal trial boards, like the Kentucky State Police, Clay added.
“It’s one of the most earth-shaking decisions that the Supreme Court has come out with in my practice of law for over 50 years because, basically, it says that so many of these administrative agencies that act as judge, jury and executioner, do it illegally in violation of a person’s constitutional right to a jury trial,” Clay said.
The Legislative Ethics Commission also wanted to dismiss the case in Franklin County. It argued that Grossberg’s complaint against the commission did not state a claim for the Court to grant relief in the lawsuit and failed to demonstrate standing. Grossberg had initially asked the court to intervene in the case before a closed-door hours-long commission meeting took place in June, but Judge Thomas Wingate denied Grossberg’s motion to halt the meeting.
Last year, Grossberg was expelled from the House Democratic Caucus and faced calls from within his party to resign his legislative seat. The allegations that he behaved inappropriately toward women came to light through reporting by the Lexington Herald-Leader. The Legislative Research Commission questioned the women about inappropriate text messages sent to them by Grossberg. Later, Foxys Gentlemen’s Club told the Herald-Leader it banned Grossberg for life after he inappropriately touched a dancer.
The ethics commission voted that it had found probable cause Grossberg violated state ethics laws after the hours-long meeting which included appearances by Grossberg and his lawyers, women who work in politics and workers from the strip club. That vote paves the way for a public hearing
Clay said a date for the commission hearing has not been scheduled yet.
The Kentucky Attorney General’s Office is representing the ethics commission in the Franklin County lawsuit. A spokesperson for the office declined to give further comment beyond statements filed in court.
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