Updated Sept. 5, 2026, 9:54 p.m. ET
CBS News Chief Correspondent Matt Gutman is set to be removed as a defendant from a wrongful-termination lawsuit in which a former ABC News producer alleged he made a “sexual insinuation” about her.
The “48 Hours” lead correspondent, 48, was initially named as a defendant in the Aug. 14 lawsuit filed against ABC by former field producer Samira Said. Said alleged Gutman made a “sexualized insinuation” about her, according to the complaint.
According to Deadline’s report, Said’s legal team filed paperwork in Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday, Sept. 4, asking the court to dismiss Gutman from the complaint. The filing did not explain the request.
ABC and The Walt Disney Co. remain defendants in the case. Said alleges the network required her to work while she was on protected leave.
USA TODAY has reached out to CBS, ABC and Said’s legal team for comment.
In the initial complaint obtained by USA TODAY, Said claimed she was placed on an all-male team that included Gutman and two other crew members. She accused Gutman of initiating a conversation while on assignment in which he rated a female correspondent’s appearance, “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,” the lawsuit says.
Said, who worked as a field producer at ABC News’ LA bureau from May 2021 to March 2025, also recounted another incident in which she and Gutman disagreed over whether the team should leave a work site.
She said Gutman made a “sexualized insinuation” that she must have an after-hours date, according to the suit. “The remark, made audibly to others, demeaned Said and reduced her professional judgment to a sexualized stereotype,” the suit stated.
What does the lawsuit allege now?
Said’s lawsuit accuses ABC of requiring her to work despite being on protected leave following “severe psychological symptoms” she experienced in 2022. She said she was assigned to travel to Uvalde, Texas, to cover the aftermath of the school shooting at Robb Elementary, where 19 students and two teachers were killed. Before that assignment, she tested positive for COVID-19 and experienced symptoms during her time in Uvalde.
A psychiatrist granted her medical leave from August 2022 through January 2023, when she was cleared to work again “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 claimed in the lawsuit that the network denied her request and former 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,” the complaint reads.
Said was later “demoted” to only working weekend desk shifts around March 2023, according to the suit. ABC fired her in March 2025, shortly after she was covering a hazardous weather event and “sustained a workplace injury when heavy equipment struck her foot, resulting in a bone contusion.”
“Said reported the injury to her supervisors. A Disney physician evaluated Said and determined that her foot injury did not require her to take leave,” the complaint said.
In a statement shared with USA TODAY on Aug. 15, one of Said’s attorneys, Aaron Gbewonyo, alleged the circumstances surrounding her termination “constitute clear violations of the law, with profound and lasting consequences for her both personally and professionally” and accused ABC of “unlawful conduct.”
“While this case centers on Ms. Said’s experience, we have reason to believe that ABC’s conduct was not an isolated incident,” Gbewonyo added. “Ms. Said’s decision to come forward reflects remarkable courage, and we hope her actions will inspire others who have faced similar treatment to do the same. Meaningful change in the workplace can only occur when employees are empowered to speak out against injustice.”
Lawsuit follows prior controversies surrounding Matt Gutman
Gutman previously worked as a radio correspondent after joining in 2008 and eventually became the network’s chief national correspondent. He joined CBS News in January, hired by new Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss, and remains based in LA.
The New Jersey native previously faced controversy during his time at ABC News. Last September, he was condemned for calling texts from Tyler Robinson, who has been charged with assassinating Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, “very touching in a way we did not expect.” Gutman later apologized for his choice of words.
He also faced scrutiny in 2020, when he erroneously said on air that all four of Kobe Bryant’s children died in the fatal helicopter crash that killed the Lakers legend, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others. ABC News suspended him for the erroneous reporting.
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