Radio host Howard Stern and his wife, Beth, are being sued by a former assistant over claims that they created a “hostile work environment” at their sprawling Hamptons estate, where she says she was employed to help with everything from staff management to feline rescue operations.
Leslie Kuhn filed a complaint against Howard, 72, and Beth, 53, in the Supreme Court of the State of New York on April 5, according to Entertainment Weekly.
In the filing, she states that she began working for Stern’s eponymous radio show as an office manager in September 2022, before the on-air personality hired her as his executive assistant in January 2024.
Four months later, she claims that she moved into the couple’s 20,000-square-foot mansion in Southampton, NY, “at the request of” Howard and Beth.
Kuhn says she was asked to help the radio host’s spouse with “managing the staff of the mansion, setting staffing schedules, completing staff payroll, and managing general household operations,” as well as the day-to-day running of her “extensive at-home feline rescue and fostering operations.”
It was at this point that she alleges the issues began, claiming that she was placed under “immense pressure” as a result of what she describes as the couple’s “irresponsible and untenable animal rescue and fostering operations occurring on-site” and “questionable business operations and accounting practices.”
Beth has long been open about her animal activism, revealing to the New York Post in 2016 that she had “17 cats in my house that I rescued and am fostering.”
“[Howard] is always the one who says, ‘Come on and bring them in.’ It’s kitten season, so we’re in high gear,” she added at the time.
However, Kuhn insists that she saw another, much darker side to Beth’s rescue efforts and the day-to-day running of her nonprofit, Beth’s Furry Friends.
She claims that she was terminated in February 2026 because of this “hostile work environment,” which Kuhn says was “manufactured by the Defendants in general and Beth Stern in particular,” despite being informed just two months earlier that she would be getting a raise to $265,000 and an $80,000 bonus.
OneTwelve’s vice president of finance, Mark D. Garten, is said to have shared the news of her termination, with Kuhn alleging that he told her it was due to “downsizing or the elimination of a position.”
Kuhn also alleges that Garten accused her of “misconduct of a nature that would be detrimental to one’s reputation, such that disclosure would have a chilling effect on Kuhn’s future employment prospects.”
However, Kuhn is not seeking damages from the couple, but rather asking the court to release her from a nondisclosure agreement that she insists she was forced to sign—one that prevents her from speaking about her employment and termination, despite leaving Howard and Beth free to discuss her in any capacity they see fit.
Kuhn alleges that she was presented with the NDA, as well as a confidentiality agreement, while the details of her termination were being ironed out. She claims that both documents are “fraudulent and unenforceable.”
The complaint adds, “The Separation Agreement protected parties and categories of information that were not included in the Confidentiality Agreement and had a wholly different legal effect.
“No person or persons, natural or otherwise, ever presented Kuhn with the Non-Disclosure Agreement for her signature. The Non-Disclosure Agreement attempts to cure a number of the defects plaguing the beleaguered Confidentiality Agreement.”
In the complaint, her attorney, John J. Leonard, notes that his client wants the right to air her grievances about the Sterns publicly, stating that she “fully intends to disclose details concerning the facts surrounding her employment.”
In a statement shared with People, Leonard said, “We contend that the defendants used manufactured and unenforceable non-disclosure/confidentiality agreements as a means to leverage Leslie Kuhn into silence and deprive her of the right to defend herself from accusations detrimental to her reputation and her livelihood.”
Kuhn is also asking that the Sterns be forced to cover her legal fees.
According to CelebrityNetWorth, Howard currently has an estimated net worth of $750 million, a figure that shot up after he inked a three-year contract renewal with SiriusXM in December 2025.
It has not been revealed how much Stern will earn for the next three years—although his last contract with SiriusXM, which he signed in 2020, reportedly netted him a staggering $100 million a year.
Howard—who shares daughters Emily, Debra, and Ashley with ex-wife Alison Berns and has been married to Beth since 2008—purchased his Hamptons dwelling in 2005 for $20 million, although it is now estimated to be worth an eye-watering $50 million.
The eight-bedroom, 12-bathroom property is situated on 4.25 acres, offering the couple ample privacy.
The opulent property comes with a bowling alley, a wine cellar, a tasting room, a pool, a cabana, and a spa.
The primary bedroom is a staggering 1,500 square feet and boasts a balcony, an office, and a his-and-her bathroom.