LUDLOW, Ky. — Ludlow’s City Administrator, Scott Smith, has filed a sexual harassment complaint with the city’s mayor against City Councilmember Abby Miller for allegedly licking his hand during a job interview in October.
Smith had worked for the city before, having been hired as the chief of police in 2015 and then moved into the role of city administrator in 2019. He resigned from the position in April 2024 and was hiredagain at the end of the year.
Smith described the incident, which took place in an interview with Mayor Chris Wright and members of the previous city council in October.
“During the interview process with the council and mayor, everything’s done, finalized, and as I’m walking out, I’m shaking everyone’s hands, thanking them for the interview, and Miss Abigail Miller, one of the council members, took my hand and licked it from my knuckle to my wrist,” Smith told LINK nky in a phone call.
LINK nky reached out to several of the current council members, but they had not responded at the time of this story’s publication. However, Samantha Frank, a former council member who lost her bid for reelection in November, corroborated Smith’s account.
“Abby was the last one to shake his hand,” Frank said. “She shook his hand, grabbed it, and licked the back of it.”
The council discussed the matter in public at a Thursday meeting. City Attorney Todd McMurtry broached the topic towards the end of the meeting, reading from Smith’s complaint letter to the mayor.
McMurtry said he was not necessarily accusing Miller of anything but stated, “I looked at the facts and determined that – at a minimum – this would constitute battery under Kentucky law.”
The council itself is the only body that had the power to discipline Miller, McMurtry said. It had three options: It could call a public hearing to openly discuss the allegations and bring the prospect of removing Miller from office to a vote. Cross-examination would be allowed at the public hearing. In order to remove Miller from office, the vote would need to be unanimous.
Alternatively, the council could refer the case to the Northern Kentucky Regional Ethics Authority, a division of the Northern Kentucky Area Development District, for investigation.
Or, the council could do nothing.
The incident is contextualized by tension around Smith’s appointment. Miller, Councilmember David Ziegler and former Councilmember Lori Davenport were among Smith’s critics. Davenport and Miller did not attend the meeting where the rest of the council voted to affirm Smith’s appointment, and Ziegler was the only council member to vote against Smith’s appointment.
For his own part, Ziegler said at Thursday’s meeting that, “I’m certainly not a lawyer. I don’t feel like it rises to the level of sexual harassment or whatever–battery. That’s my opinion.”
Miller and her attorney attended Thursday’s meeting, but neither of them spoke. Councilmember Julia Navarre made a motion to discuss the matter, which Councilmember Sarah Thompson seconded. Navarre and Thompson did not talk during the discussion time, but councilmembers Stephen Chapman and Paula Graszus both believed a public hearing was warranted.
When asked why Miller acted the way she did, Smith said he had “no idea.”
“I couldn’t tell you what the point to that whole thing would be…,” Smith said. “I have no idea what would go through somebody’s head to do that in a professional setting.”
Smith said he wasn’t really sure what to do about the incident, characterizing it as “bizarre,” more than anything else. The more he thought about it, however, he felt like a formal complaint was warranted.
“As leaders of an organization, I couldn’t let that just go,” Smith said. “I could not just sit back and let it go. If I would have done that during an interview – or any man would have done that – to a female walking out of an interview, or just at your workplace, they would have been fired instantly. We would have encouraged that female to file criminal charges.”
Smith said the licking was reflective of what he viewed as a broader culture of toxicity among the council members.
“It just goes back to show you the culture that several council members have created over the last couple years,” Smith said, “this toxic, hostile work environment, and that’s what it is.”
The council eventually cast votes to hold a public hearing at a later date, with Ziegler being the only council member to vote “no.” Miller did not cast a vote. A date for the hearing has not yet been scheduled.
This story originally appeared on our partner's website LINK nky.
