Howard Stern sued for airing woman's conversation with IRS agent
Howard Stern is in hot water after his radio show aired a conversation between a woman and an IRS agent.
The woman, Judith Barrigas, is suing Stern for revealing her tax information on air, per The Hollywood Reporter.
The strange incident took place in 2015, when an IRS agent, Jimmy Forsythe, called the “Howard Stern Show” and was put on hold. He then took a call from Barrigas and talked to her for 45 minutes about her tax case. During Forsythe’s conversation with Barrigas, a staffer on “Stern” overheard and decided to air the conversation live on satellite radio.
Barrigas filed a complaint on Monday in Massachusetts federal court, which reads, “While on the phone with Agent Forsythe, Mrs. Barrigas suddenly began to receive a barrage of text messages and phone calls from unknown callers/individuals. The text messages were informing Mrs. Barrigas that her personal information and phone number was being aired live on ‘The Stern Show.’”
Her lawsuit states that the the phone call can still be found on the internet and is an “outrageous violation” of privacy that has negatively affected her career and physical health. According to the suit, Forsythe was put on administrative leave.
Barrigas is suing both the government, under the Federal Tort Claims Act, for unlawfully disclosing her tax return, and Stern and his show for negligence and invasion of privacy.
