Howard and Beth Stern sued by former employee
Howard Stern, Wife Beth Hit With Lawsuit Over ‘Hostile Work Environment’ Claims
Even though Howard Stern is known for stirring up controversies on air, this time the American host found himself in legal hot water. The broadcaster and his wife Beth Ostrosky Stern faced a lawsuit from his former executive assistant, Leslie Kuhn.
Kuhn accused the couple of treating her badly at work and described the environment as stressful and unfair. In addition, the former employee also raised concerns about how Mrs. Stern’s animal rescue work was being handled.
Leslie Kuhn further added in her lawsuit how she was forced to sign legal papers when she was fired in February 2026. However now, she wants the court to cancel those agreements and hear her side of the story openly.
Former Assistant Sued Howard Stern and His Wife
Howard Stern and his wife faces lawsuit from ex-employee
In the complaint filed on Sunday in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Leslie Kuhn, who worked as an executive assistant, accused Howard Stern and Beth Stern of creating "hostile work environment" and "questionable business operations.”
She first joined The Howard Stern Show in 2022 as an office manager and was later promoted in 2024. A few months after her promotion, she moved to the couple’s large home in Southampton at their request. According to Kuhn, her problems began after she started working from their home, “at the request of Stern and his wife.”
Kuhn said her role quickly grew bigger than expected, and therefore, along with managing house staff and daily work, she also had to help with Beth’s animal rescue work, which involved caring for many cats.
The lawsuit read that Kuhn was not only “managing the staff of the mansion, setting staffing schedules, completing staff payroll, and managing general household operations," but also helping Beth Stern with her "extensive at-home feline rescue and fostering operations.”
The former employee further claimed that as soon as the work environment became stressful and difficult, due to poor organization and too much pressure, she was fired in February 2026, just two years after her promotion, and relocation. And although she was allegedly terminated "for cause,” Kuhn revealed her share of reason.
Kuhn "contends that her termination was the result of, among other things, a hostile work environment and enablement of that hostile work environment, immense pressures on the household created by irresponsible and untenable animal rescue and fostering operations occurring on-site, and massively disorganized and questionable business operations and accounting practices.”
Leslie Kuhn Seeks Freedom From the Sterns’ NDA
The legal fight involving Howard Stern and Beth Stern got more intense as more details emerged from the complaint filed by their former assistant, Leslie Kuhn. She insisted that the reasons given for her termination were not true and “were manufactured by the Defendants in general and Beth Stern in particular.”
What made the lawsuit even more controversial is Kuhn’s lack of demand for money or employment. She is not seeking damages from the Sterns or reinstatement of her job. Instead she wants to be free from the confidentiality agreement and non-disclosure agreement she says she was forced to sign when she was fired.
According to Kuhn, these agreements only protect the Sterns and stop her from telling her side of the story. She also denies any wrongdoing and says the claims against her could harm her reputation and future job chances. So now, she has filed the lawsuit for the court to cancel these agreements and allow her to speak openly. She also wants her legal costs to be covered.