Howard Stern and his wife Beth Ostrosky Stern were sued Sunday in New York State Supreme Court by their former executive assistant, who claims she was fired from a hostile work environment and then presented with fraudulent non-disclosure agreements designed to prevent her from speaking publicly about her time working for the couple.
The plaintiff is Leslie Kuhn. The defendants are Howard Stern, Beth Ostrosky Stern, One Twelve Inc., Stern’s production company, and The Howard Stern Production Company Inc.
Neither the Sterns nor their representatives have responded publicly to the allegations.
How Long Was Kuhn Employed By The Sterns?
Kuhn’s relationship with the Sterns was not brief and it was not simple. She first joined the staff of The Howard Stern Show on SiriusXM in September 2022.
In December 2023 she was hired by One Twelve directly as Stern’s executive assistant. Then in May 2024, according to the lawsuit, she was asked to take on a third overlapping role.
Kuhn moved into the Sterns’ 20,000-square-foot Southampton mansion and helping Beth manage its operations, including an extensive at-home feline rescue and fostering operation that Kuhn says was the primary source of the chaos she experienced.
All three roles ran simultaneously. Kuhn states in the lawsuit that none of these positions was ever conditioned on signing an employment contract or non-disclosure agreement, and that she never executed such a document.
In December 2025, One Twelve sent Kuhn a letter thanking her “for her hard work in 2025” and notifying her of an incoming $80,000 bonus as well as a raise that would bring her salary to $265,000 in 2026.
Six weeks later, she was fired.
What Is Kuhn Alleging?
Kuhn claims she was fired in February 2026 “for cause,” specifically for “alleged misconduct of a nature that would be detrimental to one’s reputation.”
She disputes this characterization entirely and says she believes the stated reasons were “manufactured by the Defendants in general and Beth Stern in particular.”
The hostile work environment she describes in the lawsuit is specific. She claims it was created and exacerbated by “irresponsible and untenable animal rescue and fostering operations occurring on-site, and massively disorganized and questionable business operations and accounting practices.”
She says she suffered anxiety as a result of the conditions and the “immense pressures on the household” the operations generated.
She also wants to disclose details of her employment publicly, both to protect her reputation and her future employment prospects, which brings the lawsuit’s second and arguably more explosive element into focus.
The NDA Dispute
Upon firing Kuhn, the Sterns’ legal team presented her with what they described as non-disclosure agreements she had previously signed, one dated May 2022 and one dated May 2025.
Kuhn says both documents are fraudulent.
The May 2022 NDA is dated three months before she even began working for the Howard Stern Show in September 2022.
The document, she says, bears her name only as typewritten text, in the same font style and size used to identify all parties in the agreement, rather than as an actual signature.
She describes it as “nothing more than her typewritten name” and argues it was fabricated after the fact to bind her.
The terms of the NDA, if enforced, would be extraordinarily broad. Kuhn would be barred from discussing the Sterns’ “daily activities and personal habits,” their “use of consumer products,” their “choice of restaurants,” their “entertainment preferences,” and their “political affiliations,” among much else.
Beth Stern’s charitable organizations and endeavors would also be protected.
Critically, the NDA is one-way. It shields the Sterns and bars Kuhn from speaking.
It does not prevent the Sterns from speaking about Kuhn. As Kuhn’s lawsuit notes, this means they “can speak freely about Kuhn with impunity” while she would be legally silenced.
Kuhn is asking the court to declare both NDAs unenforceable and is seeking damages for the hostile work environment and wrongful termination claims.
Who Is Howard Stern?
Howard Allan Stern was born January 12, 1954, in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York. He is 72 years old.
He began his broadcasting career in the mid-1970s and built his reputation through a relentlessly provocative morning radio show that ran on terrestrial radio from 1986 to 2005, reaching 20 million listeners at its peak and making him the most fined radio host in FCC history, the agency issued fines totaling $2.5 million to station owners for content it deemed indecent.
In 2004 he signed a five-year deal with Sirius Satellite Radio for a reported $500 million, launched two dedicated channels, and has broadcast on SiriusXM ever since. In December 2025, he renewed his SiriusXM contract for three more years.
His net worth is estimated at $650 million. He was first married to Alison Berns from 1978 to 2001, with whom he has three daughters: Emily, Deborah, and Ashley.
Who Is Beth Stern And What Is Her Animal Rescue?
Beth Ostrosky Stern was born September 14, 1970, in Pittsburgh. She is 55 years old. She attended the University of Pittsburgh, moved to New York to model, appeared on numerous magazine covers, and had small acting roles in Flirting with Disaster, Whipped, and the TV series All My Children.
She met Howard Stern at a dinner party, she was on a blind date with someone else at the time, and they dated for seven years before marrying at Le Cirque restaurant in Manhattan on October 3, 2008.
Howard is eighteen years her senior.
Beth’s animal rescue work is genuine and substantial. She began fostering cats in 2013 and maintains dedicated foster rooms in all three of the couple’s residences. Southampton, their Manhattan penthouse, and their Palm Beach mansion.
Approximately 200 cats pass through their homes every year. She has helped more than 2,000 cats and kittens find homes since she began.
She and Howard were instrumental in creating Bianca’s Furry Friends Feline Adoption Center at North Shore Animal League America, the world’s largest no-kill shelter, a cage-free adoption facility named for their late bulldog Bianca.
Beth serves as a spokesperson and board member for North Shore Animal League.
The scale of the operation at the Southampton mansion is what Kuhn’s lawsuit characterizes as the problem, not the mission itself, but the management of it.
Kuhn’s complaint describes the fostering operation as “irresponsible and untenable” and points to disorganized business practices and accounting as compounding factors that made the working environment impossible to sustain.
What Will Come Of The Lawsuit?
This is an active and developing lawsuit. The Sterns have not commented. The court has yet to rule on any of Kuhn’s requests, including the central request to have the NDAs declared unenforceable.
The allegations in a lawsuit are one party’s claims, not established facts. What is established is that Kuhn was promised a raise and an $80,000 bonus in December 2025 and fired six weeks later, and that she is now suing in open court for the right to talk about why.
