Howard Stern's ex-personal assistant sues him, and wife, over use of allegedly false nondisclosure agreement to 'silence' her
Howard Stern and his wife, Beth Ostrosky Stern, at a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden in 2018. Credit: Jim McIsaac
A former personal assistant to Long Island-raised Howard Stern and his wife is seeking to void a confidentiality agreement that she says was falsely manufactured by the radio personality's team to prevent her from discussing the "hostile work environment" she encountered at the radio personality's Southampton home, records show.
A lawsuit was filed Sunday in State Supreme Court in Manhattan by Leslie Kuhn, the Sterns' former personal assistant and the ex-office manager of SiriusXM Radio's "Howard Stern Show."
The suit names Stern; his wife, Beth Ostrosky Stern, a former model and animal activist; along with his two production companies: One Twelve Inc. and the Howard Stern Production Company, Inc. None of the defendants responded to requests for comment.
"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," the suit states.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- A former personal assistant to Howard Stern and his wife Beth has filed suit seeking to void a confidentiality agreement that she says was falsely manufactured by the radio personality's team.
- Leslie Kuhn of Water Mill, who also served as the office manager for SiriusXM Radio's "Howard Stern Show," said she was subjected to a "hostile work environment at the couple's Southampton home
- Kuhn contends that Stern's attorneys attempted to pressure her into signing a separation agreement using "fraudelent" nondisclosure agreements that she had never signed but which bore her signature.
John Leonard, Kuhn's Hampton Bays-based attorney, declined to comment on the allegations but said the suit "raises issues regarding the use of, or attempted use of nondisclosure agreements to silence people and to give away their rights where otherwise it isn't reasonable or practical and against their better interests."
Kuhn, 51, of Water Mill, worked at the couple's East End mansion known as Oceanview between January 2024 and February 2026, records state. At the time she was also the office manager for Stern's satellite radio program.
As the Sterns' assistant, Kuhn said she managed the staff of the home, setting schedules, completing payroll and organizing operations, including Beth Stem's at-home feline rescue and fostering operations. Beth Stern operates a rescue organization known as Beth's Furry Friends and is the national spokesperson for North Shore Animal League America.
In late-2025, One Twelve informed Kuhn that she'd subsequently be paid exclusively through the production company, at an increased salary of $265,000 with an additional $80,000 year-end bonus, and wouldn't be the show's office manager, the suit alleges. But by February, Kuhn was told she was terminated for cause.
In late-February, Kuhn said attorneys with Pryor Cashman, a Manhattan law firm, gave her a separation agreement to sign.
The agreement contained nondisclosure and confidentiality provisions preventing Kuhn from discussing her work or former employers, she contends. But since the document didn't prevent her former employers from publicly discussing Kuhn, she refused to sign it, the suit alleges.
Pryor Cashman then presented Kuhn with a confidentiality agreement she'd allegedly signed on May 10, 2022, the suit states.
But Kuhn said the document was "fabricated," as was her electronic signature on the form. The confidentiality agreement, the suit alleges, was signed three weeks before she began as the office manager and one day before she interviewed as Stern's assistant.
The suit alleges Pryor Cashman, which did not respond to requests for comment, attempted to use the confidentiality agreement "to deceive Kuhn into signing the separation agreement."
Three weeks later, Pryor Cashman presented Kuhn with a recently "discovered" confidentiality agreement she'd allegedly signed on May 23, 2025, that prevented her from discussing "the personal affairs" of anyone associated with the company, the suit contends.
But Kuhn said the second nondisclosure agreement was also fraudulent and the signature on the form was not hers, according to the lawsuit, which seeks to void the document and allow her to speak freely about her time working for the Sterns.
"The confidentiality agreement and nondisclosure agreement are particularly onerous ... because they not only silence Kuhn from speaking candidly about her employment and the termination of her employment, but they also permit the defendants to speak freely about Kuhn with impunity," the suit states. "Such a contractual relationship would place Kuhn — a mere at-will employee with considerably less influence and resources than the Sterns, their affiliated entities and associates — at a distinct and unfair disadvantage personally, professionally and publicly." t
Howard Stern, the self-proclaimed "King of All Media," grew up in Roosevelt and Rockville Centre. In December, Stern announced that he was staying with SiriusXM, where his show has aired since 2006, for another three years.
Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.
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