CBS News chief correspondent Matt Gutman has been officially removed from a wrongful termination lawsuit that previously accused him of making a "sexual insinuation" toward a former ABC producer. The legal development occurred on Friday, Sept. 4, when the legal team for former ABC field producer Samira Said filed paperwork in Los Angeles Superior Court requesting that the court dismiss Gutman from her complaint. The filing did not provide a specific explanation for the decision to remove the 48-year-old "48 Hours" lead correspondent from the case.
The lawsuit, originally filed on Aug. 14, remains active against ABC and The Walt Disney Co. In her initial complaint, Said alleged that the network required her to work while she was on protected medical leave. Said, who served as a field producer at ABC News' Los Angeles bureau from May 2021 until March 2025, claimed she was placed on an all-male team that included Gutman and two other crew members. According to the lawsuit, Gutman allegedly initiated 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 suit further alleged that the male crew members joined in and attempted to solicit Said’s views, which she declined, stating the conversation was inappropriate.
Said also recounted a separate incident involving a disagreement with Gutman over whether their team should depart from a work site. The lawsuit claimed 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. Beyond the allegations regarding Gutman, Said’s lawsuit details a broader claim that ABC forced her to work despite her protected leave status following "severe psychological symptoms" she experienced in 2022. This included an assignment to Uvalde, Texas, to cover the aftermath of the school shooting at Robb Elementary, where 19 students and two teachers were killed. She noted that she had tested positive for COVID-19 and experienced symptoms during her time in Uvalde.
The complaint asserts that a psychiatrist granted Said medical leave from August 2022 through January 2023, when she was cleared to work again subject to reasonable accommodations. Said claimed the network denied her request and that 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. Said was later demoted to 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. The complaint stated that a Disney physician evaluated Said and determined the injury did not require her to take leave.
In a statement shared on Aug. 15, one of Said's attorneys, Aaron Gbewonyo, alleged the circumstances surrounding her termination constituted clear violations of the law and accused ABC of unlawful conduct. Gbewonyo added that while the case centers on Said's experience, they have reason to believe ABC's conduct was not an isolated incident. Gutman, a New Jersey native who joined CBS News in January under Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss, previously faced public scrutiny during his tenure at ABC News. In 2020, he was suspended by ABC for an erroneous on-air report regarding the death of Kobe Bryant’s children. Additionally, in September 2023, he faced criticism for describing texts from an individual charged with the attempted assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk as "very touching in a way we did not expect," for which he later apologized.
