MADISON - Democratic leaders are calling on a freshman lawmaker to resign after he sexually harassed a staff member at a Madison bar.

Democratic Rep. Staush Gruszynski of Green Bay apologized for his behavior Thursday and said he was in counseling, but offered no signs he would step down.

He issued a statement shortly after Assembly Minority Leader Gordon Hintz of Oshkosh and other Democratic leaders said Gruszynski had allegedly harassed an employee of the state Legislature "in an offsite location after work hours."

Neither provided detailed accounts of what happened.

Hintz called on the first-term lawmaker to resign, stripped him of his committee assignments and barred him from caucusing with other Democrats after an investigation conducted by the Legislature's human resources officials found the complaint against Gruszynski to be substantiated.

“As public officials and leaders of our caucus, we are committed to preventing and stopping incidents of harassment whenever they may occur in the Legislature," Hintz said. "It’s our job to create a culture of accountability and to ensure members and legislative employees are held to a high standard of conduct. Rep. Gruszynski failed to meet these standards with his actions."

Gruszynski, who is 34 and also a Brown County Board supervisor, said in his statement he "made a terrible mistake after drinking too much in a Madison bar" in October.

He said he had made inappropriate comments to a female staffer, which led to the harassment complaint.

"My conduct was unprofessional and completely unacceptable," he said. "I need to be responsible for my actions and following that night I’ve taken steps with my family, and more importantly myself, to rebuild what I’ve broken."

He said he's been in family counseling and is working on staying sober. He made no mention of leaving the Legislature early.

Like all members of the Assembly, Gruzynski is up for re-election in 2020. He was first elected last year.

Assembly Chief Clerk Patrick Fuller did not immediately respond to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel request for records related to the complaint against Gruszynski.

Lawmakers from both parties have largely withheld such complaints, citing concerns over the privacy of victims.

But government transparency advocates and workplace harassment lawyers have said records related to sexual harassment at the Capitol should be released to the public so that taxpayers and voters can determine a lawmaker’s fitness for office.

The Legislature last grappled with sexual harassment allegations against a lawmaker in 2017 when Democratic Rep. Josh Zepnick from Milwaukee was accused by two female colleagues of kissing them against their will.

Hintz also called on Zepnick to resign and stripped him of privileges, but Zepnick stayed on. He lost his reelection bid in 2018.

Legislative leaders held training for lawmakers and staff in 2017, too, as Congress and state legislatures began reckoning with allegations of sexual harassment and assault.

The newfound scrutiny on how government officials handle such misconduct came after claims of sexual assault and harassment were made against influential men such as movie producer Harvey Weinstein, comedian Louis C.K. and media figures such as Roger Ailes and Bill O’Reilly of Fox News and Charlie Rose of CBS and PBS.

Doug Schneider of the Green Bay Press-Gazette and Patrick Marley of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.

Contact Molly Beck at molly.beck@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @MollyBeck.