LEXINGTON, Ky. — Facing a formal ethics hearing for allegations of misconduct toward women, Kentucky Rep. Daniel Grossberg is asking a Kentucky court for emergency relief, calling the investigation against him “retaliatory and discriminatory.”

The 23-page complaint, filed Friday afternoon in Franklin Circuit Court, asks for immediate relief for Grossberg, who claims he has experienced harassment, discrimination and a violation of his constitutional rights, both by members of an ethics commission investigating his behavior and fellow lawmakers.

The complaint accuses former House Minority Whip Rachel Roberts and former House Minority Leader Cherlynn Stevenson — both fellow Democrats — of harassment and discrimination.

Grossberg is asking the court to stop the commission from taking any further action against him.

Grossberg has been the subject of scrutiny in the media and by the Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission for the better part of a year, most notably involving his interactions with women, but he has always maintained his innocence.

The Louisville lawmaker was on the receiving end of party-wide calls for his resignation in the fall, including from Gov. Andy Beshear, after the Herald-Leader reported on his alleged sexually inappropriate behavior with women, including behavior that earned him a lifetime ban from a Louisville strip club.

Filed in Franklin Circuit Court late Friday afternoon, Grossberg alleges the ethics commission and a handful of former and current Democratic lawmakers violated his constitutional rights, as well as harassed and discriminated against him because of his Jewish faith and “for the fact that he is neurodiverse,” according to the complaint.

In his complaint, Grossberg’s attorney asserted that his client was “targeted for his faith as soon as he was elected to the legislature as the House’s first actively practicing Jewish member. ... This faith-based discrimination culminated in attacks on him because of his defense of Israel as hostility between Israel and Palestine escalated.”

Grossberg is represented in the case by Louisville attorney Thomas Clay.

The two-term lawmaker was offered — and refused — a deal last week from the ethics commission, which found “probable cause may exist to believe” Grossberg violated state law 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 other complaints against him. 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.

Instead, an executive session ethics hearing was scheduled for June 17, though it was not immediately clear Friday if Grossberg’s request for immediate relief would alter the hearing.

If the hearing does happen, several of the complainants and others who alleged Grossberg behaved inappropriately have been subpoenaed to appear in Frankfort and provide testimony.

From there, the commission will decide whether additional probable cause exists that shows Grossberg further violated the law or the state’s ethics code.

Grossberg has reiterated his innocence in local media outlets this week, calling the investigation into his conduct “retaliation.”

“The whole process thus far has been weaponized against me,” Grossberg told WHAS11, a Louisville news station.

Herald-Leader reporting on Grossberg last year included an instance of alleged sexual harassment in Grossberg’s office, as well as an incident where he inappropriately groped a dancer at a Louisville strip club, earning him a lifetime ban from the business.

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