CBS News correspondent Matt Gutman has been accused of workplace harassment in a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by a former ABC News colleague. The suit, submitted Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, names ABC News, its parent company Walt Disney Co., and Gutman as defendants.
Samira Said, a field producer who worked at ABC News from May 2021 until March 2025, alleges that Gutman created a hostile work environment through two separate incidents while they were colleagues. Gutman joined CBS News on Jan. 5 as chief correspondent, the first major on-air hire under CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss. He previously spent nearly two decades at ABC News, most recently as chief national correspondent.
According to the lawsuit, Said was placed on a “male-only team”. During one such assignment, the suit alleges, “While the team waited in a public queue during the assignment, Gutman initiated a discussion rating a female correspondent’s appearance and reducing her professional standing to a numerical score based on her physical attributes. The male crew joined in, continuing to assess the woman’s body and looks in Said’s presence. The men attempted to draw Said into the conversation by soliciting her views. Said declined and stated the conversation was inappropriate.”
In a second alleged incident, Said and Gutman disagreed about whether the team should leave a work site while covering a press event for a movie release. The lawsuit states, “In front of multiple coworkers, Gutman responded by making a sexualized insinuation that Said must have an after-hours date in the city and that this is why she did not want to relocate. The remark, made audibly to others, demeaned Said and reduced her professional judgment to a sexualized stereotype.”
The claims against ABC and Disney extend beyond Gutman’s conduct. Said alleges that the companies mishandled her requests for medical accommodations after she covered the 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. She was assigned to interview child survivors who witnessed the killings of their classmates, and afterward she “experienced severe psychological symptoms” and was “still experiencing symptoms from COVID-19,” according to the suit.
From August 2022 through January 2023, Said was granted medical leave, during which her “psychiatrist continued to certify the medical necessity of her leave on a recurring basis.” By early 2023, her psychiatrist cleared her to return “subject to reasonable accommodations designed to enable her to perform the essential functions of the position while protecting against re-exposure to trauma triggers.” Said alleges ABC denied those accommodation requests and that ABC News’ Los Angeles bureau chief David Herndon “made it clear that unless she returned without restrictions and with full-week availability, she would not be permitted to resume her role.”
“Following her medical leave and accommodation requests, Plaintiff was subjected to materially adverse treatment than she had experienced at any time prior to engaging in protected activity,” the lawsuit states. Said alleges she was subsequently assigned to weekend desk shifts.
In January 2025, while covering the Los Angeles wildfires and other hazardous weather-related events, Said says she was injured on the job when heavy equipment struck her foot, resulting in a bone contusion. She reported the injury to supervisors and was evaluated by a Disney physician, who determined she did not need to take leave. ABC News terminated Said on March 5, 2025, according to the suit.
Said is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, as well as attorneys’ fees. CBS News declined to comment, and representatives for ABC News and Gutman did not respond to requests for comment by publication time.
