Photo Credit: Howard and Beth Stern by Bryan Horowitz / CC by 2.0

Former Howard Stern executive assistant Leslie Kuhn is suing the radio host and his wife over allegations of a hostile work environment.

Howard Stern and his wife Beth are being sued by their former executive assistant for an alleged hostile work environment and “immense pressure” caused by Beth’s large-scale at-home animal rescue organization and disorganized business practices.

Leslie Kuhn, the couple’s former executive assistant, says she started working at their New York mansion at their request in May 2024. Kuhn states that Beth needed help in managing the staff of the mansion and household operations, which included her “extensive at-home feline rescue and fostering operations.”

According to her complaint, Kuhn claims that she was fired in February—despite receiving a letter in December from Howard’s production company stating she would be getting a $265,000 raise and an $80,000 bonus in 2026.

Kuhn says she was fired due to the “hostile work environment” and “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.”

Further, she alleges that Howard Stern’s production company presented her with a non-disclosure agreement that she says she never signed. She claims that the reasons behind her firing, as well as the NDA, were “manufactured by [the Sterns] in general and Beth Stern in particular.”

Kuhn says the NDA, which she is asking the court to make unenforceable, aims to silence her from speaking about her employment and her termination, but also permits the Sterns to speak freely about her.

“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 advantage personally, professionally, and publicly,” the filing reads.

Beth Stern is the national spokesperson for North Shore Animal League America, the world’s largest no-kill animal rescue organization. Since 2013, the organization says she has rescued, nurtured, and re-homed more than 2,000 cats and kittens. In 2016, Beth said she was fostering 17 cats at home.