Leslie Kuhn claims she was terminated from her role as the Sterns' assistant on Feb. 26
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NEED TO KNOW
- Howard and Beth Stern’s former personal assistant, Leslie Kuhn, alleges that she was fired by the couple and experienced a “hostile work environment,” according to a complaint obtained by PEOPLE
- Kuhn claims the Sterns presented her with confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements before and at the time of her firing, which her attorney claims are “fraudulent” and “unenforceable”
- In the complaint, Kuhn claims that the couple requested that she move to Southampton, N.Y., to work at their 20,000 square-foot mansion, Oceanview
The former personal assistant to Howard and Beth Stern is suing the couple.
Leslie Kuhn filed a complaint against the couple on April 5 and is seeking compensation for the “costs of this action” and other relief the Court “deems just,” according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE. In the complaint, Kuhn claims that she was first hired as an office manager for SiriusXM’s The Howard Stern Show in September 2022.
Less than two years later, in January 2024, she claims that she became Howard’s executive assistant. Then, in May 2024, she alleges that the couple requested that she move to Southampton, N.Y. to work at their their 20,000 square-foot mansion, called Oceanview.
Kuhn alleges that she was instructed by Beth, 53, that she would assist Howard, 72, and offer Beth “assistance with such things as managing the staff of the mansion, setting staffing schedules, completing staff payroll and managing general household operations, including Beth’s extensive at-home feline rescue and fostering operations,” according to the complaint viewed by PEOPLE.
Then, in December 2025, she claims that she received a letter from Howard’s production company, One Twelve, thanking her for her work, confirming that she would receive a monetary bonus, and informing her that she would receive a raise in 2026.
Kuhn's “employment was allegedly terminated for cause” around February 26, per the court documents. She was informed of her termination by OneTwelve's Vice President of Finance, Mark D. Garten, due to “downsizing or the elimination of a position," the complaint alleges.
Kuhn alleges in the complaint that when she was terminated, Garten also 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.”
“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,” Kuhn’s attorney, John J. Leonard, claimed in the complaint. “As such, Kuhn fully intends to disclose details concerning the facts surrounding her employment."
Credit: Scott Legato/FilmMagic
Kuhn's complaint alleges that she was presented with a separation agreement detailing her departure from the company, which included a nondisclosure agreement, which she says she refused to sign. She also alleges that she was presented with a "non-mutual" confidentiality agreement, which she alleges would only protect the Sterns.
The complaint alleges that its confidentiality clause is “unenforceable” because it was “fabricated” by the Sterns and void from the beginning. Additionally, “the Separation Agreement protected parties and categories of information that were not included in the Confidentiality Agreement and had a wholly different legal effect.”
Kuhn additionally claims in the complaint that she was also presented with another non-disclosure/confidentiality agreement, which was allegedly signed in May 2025, a document that she denies signing. “No person or persons, natural or otherwise, ever presented Kuhn with the Non-Disclosure Agreement for her signature,” the complaint alleges.
"The Non-Disclosure Agreement attempts to cure a number of the defects plaguing the beleaguered Confidentiality Agreement," according to the complaint. Leonard alleges that the NDA is "fraudulent and unenforceable," and like the separation and confidentiality agreements, was "one-sided and non-mutual."
Leonard also claims Kuhn's “signature” on the Confidentiality Agreement was only her “typewritten name in the same font style and size used to identify the parties’ names in the recitals of the agreement.”
Kuhn also claimed that the reasons for the termination of her employment, “were manufactured by the Defendants in general and Beth Stern in particular."
Leonard issued a statement obtained by PEOPLE: "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."
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PEOPLE reached out to representatives for both Howard and Beth Stern.
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