Howard Stern’s former executive assistant is suing the broadcast icon and his wife, Beth Ostrowski Stern, accusing them of creating a hostile work environment and then forging a “fraudulent” nondisclosure agreement to prevent her from talking about her experience working for the couple.
Leslie Kuhn filed the lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court against Ostrosky Stern, 55, a 72-year-old Queens-born radio host who has been married since late 2008, as well as One Twelve, Inc. and The Howard Stern Production Company, Inc., according to a subpoena obtained by The Daily News on Sunday.
Representatives for Stern and Ostrowski Stern did not immediately respond to The Courant’s request for comment. Neither appears to have commented publicly on the document.
Kuhn said she was fired in February 2026 and informed of “alleged misconduct of a defamatory nature.” However, she believes the reasons for her dismissal “were created by the defendants, specifically Beth Stern.”
Kuhn said the defendant then attempted to “deceive” her by creating “fabricated” information that would invalidate the May 2022 and May 2025 confidentiality agreements.
Kuhn said she was never asked to sign any such agreement. The lawsuit alleges that one of the agreements, signed three months before she joined Sirius XM Radio’s “The Howard Stern Show” in September 2022, had a printed name instead of a signature.
Kuhn was also hired by One Twelve around December 2023 as Stern’s administrative assistant. She was later hired in May 2024 to help the couple manage their Southampton mansion, including assisting Stern’s wife with “an extensive family feline rescue and fostering operation.”
All three roles overlapped, and Kuhn insisted that none of the work was “never conditioned on Kuhn entering into an employment contract or confidentiality/nondisclosure agreement,” nor did she enforce such an agreement.
In December, One Twelve thanked Kuhn for her “hard work in 2025” and informed her that she would receive an $80,000 bonus this year and a raise in 2026, when her income would reach $265,000. She was allegedly fired “for cause” around February 2026.
Kuhn claims that “irresponsible and indefensible animal rescue and breeding operations conducted on site, as well as massively chaotic and questionable business operations and accounting practices,” created and exacerbated a hostile work environment, all of which she hopes to disclose to “protect her reputation and future employment prospects.”
A separation agreement provided to Kuhn after she was fired included a one-way confidentiality clause to protect the defendants “as well as Stern’s friends and relatives and Beth Stern’s charitable organizations and causes” but not Kuhn himself, meaning they could “freely speak about Kuhn without penalty.”
The May 2025 confidentiality agreement also did not prohibit the Sterns from talking about Kuhn, but it prohibited her from discussing broader political parties and information, including the Sterns’ “daily activities and personal habits…use of consumer products, restaurant selections” as well as “entertainment preferences” and “political connections.”
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