Howard Stern has secured the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by his former executive assistant, Leslie Kuhn, after a New York judge rejected her attempt to invalidate a 2025 nondisclosure agreement.
Kuhn alleged that Stern’s production company, One Twelve, may have accessed her work email and electronically signed the agreement without her authorization.
The court found that theory unsupported, pointing to an email sent from Kuhn’s account with the message “Signed NDA attached” and a copy of the agreement bearing her electronic signature.
The Judge Rejected Kuhn’s Email-Hacking Theory
Kuhn argued that she had not signed the May 2025 NDA and suggested that someone connected to One Twelve could have used remote access to create the email trail.
The judge characterized that allegation as a “bald assertion,” according to the decision obtained by TMZ and court documents reviewed by Page Six. The ruling concluded that Kuhn had not supplied sufficient facts to overcome the defendants’ documentary evidence, which included the email from her account and the attached NDA.
Kuhn also contended that the agreement lacked consideration because she received nothing of value in exchange for signing it. The court disagreed, noting that she remained employed for approximately nine additional months, earned more than $192,000 during that period and was awarded an $80,000 bonus.
The $2.5 Million Figure Was a Valuation, Not a Damages Demand
Kuhn filed the lawsuit in April against Stern, his wife, Beth Stern, One Twelve and other connected entities. She asked the court to declare confidentiality agreements dated 2022 and 2025 void or unenforceable so she could discuss her employment and termination.
Kuhn assigned a value of at least $2.5 million to the benefit she believed she would receive from being released from the agreements, a figure used for purposes connected to New York’s Commercial Division. She was seeking declaratory relief rather than a $2.5 million compensatory-damages award.
Stern and the other defendants had already agreed not to enforce the disputed 2022 confidentiality agreement. The remaining controversy centered on the May 2025 NDA. After upholding that agreement, the judge dismissed the rest of Kuhn’s lawsuit.
Her Workplace Claims Provided Background to the NDA Dispute
Kuhn began working as an office manager for The Howard Stern Show in September 2022 and became Stern’s executive assistant in January 2024. She alleged that her duties later expanded to include helping manage staff, payroll and general operations at the Sterns’ Southampton residence. She also said she assisted with Beth’s extensive at-home cat rescue and fostering work.
In her filings, Kuhn described the environment as hostile and said she faced intense pressure from allegedly disorganized household, business and animal-care operations. She disputed the stated reason for her February 2026 termination and claimed that the confidentiality restrictions prevented her from defending her reputation.
Stern’s attorneys denied those allegations and described the lawsuit as a “thinly veiled attempted shakedown.” They accused Kuhn of using public litigation to pressure the Sterns into making what the defense characterized as a hush-money payment.
The Court Declined to Sanction Kuhn
Stern’s attorneys had challenged Kuhn’s later allegations as frivolous and warned her lawyer that pursuing additional amendments could lead to a request for sanctions.
The judge declined to impose sanctions on Kuhn or her attorney. TMZ reported that the court nevertheless cautioned her against advancing further arguments without sufficient factual support. Kuhn and her attorney had not publicly announced an appeal when the ruling was first reported.