CBS News Correspondent Matt Gutman Accused of Sexual Harassment in Lawsuit Against ABC
CBS News correspondent Matt Gutman is facing a sexual harassment lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court by former ABC News field producer Samira Said. The legal action, which names Gutman, ABC News, and parent company The Walt Disney Co. as defendants, forms part of a broader wrongful termination complaint centered on workplace conditions, mental health accommodation requests, and reporting assignments.
Lawsuit Details and Specific Allegations Against Matt Gutman
The lawsuit details two separate incidents involving Matt Gutman during field assignments several years ago. According to the court filing, the first incident occurred while Said and Gutman were waiting on a public line during an assignment. Said claims Gutman initiated a conversation evaluating and rating the physical appearance of a female correspondent, reducing her professional standing to a numerical score based on her attributes. The suit states that other male crew members joined the discussion and urged Said to participate, but she refused, calling the dialogue inappropriate.
A second alleged incident took place while Said and Gutman covered a press event for a movie release. After the two disagreed on whether to leave the work site, Gutman allegedly made a sexualized insinuation in front of multiple coworkers suggesting Said had an after-hours date in the city. The complaint asserts that these remarks were demeaning and reduced Said’s professional judgment to a sexualized stereotype.
At the time of the legal filing, Gutman was filling in as an anchor on the “CBS Evening News” for vacationing anchor Tony Dokoupil. That broadcast recently delivered a notable ratings milestone for the network, averaging 4.1 million viewers for the week of July 27 according to Nielsen data, marking the program’s best weekly audience in 17 weeks.
Wrongful Termination Claims and Workplace Accommodations at ABC
The allegations against Gutman are integrated into Samira Said’s broader wrongful termination claims against ABC News. Said, who spent four years as an ABC News field producer, alleges she was wrongfully terminated in 2025 following disputes over mental health support and medical leave.
According to the lawsuit, Said was assigned to cover the 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, where her duties required her to interview child survivors who had witnessed their classmates being killed. Following that assignment, Said requested a short leave to address her health. The initial request was denied by supervisors, though a psychiatrist eventually approved medical leave.
The legal filing further states that shortly after her approved medical leave began, David Herndon, then head of ABC’s Los Angeles bureau, continued sending her assignment requests. In January 2025, Said was assigned to cover the Los Angeles wildfires. Approximately three weeks into that coverage, a supervisor sent her home after observing her physical condition deteriorating. Later that year, she sustained a foot injury while covering a weather-related story in the area and reported the injury to supervisors.
Navigating employment disputes, medical leave violations, and workplace harassment requires rigorous adherence to state labor protections such as California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act.