A former ABC News journalist has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit in Los Angeles, accusing CBS News chief correspondent Matt Gutman of sexual harassment. The complaint, filed on August 14 and obtained by, details allegations of misconduct occurring during the time both were employed at ABC News.
During his tenure at ABC News, Gutman, 48, who now serves as a lead correspondent for “48 Hours,” allegedly directed a “sexualized insinuation” toward former field producer Samira Said. In her legal filing, Said claims she was assigned to an all-male team that included Gutman and two other crew members. She alleges that Gutman 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 lawsuit asserts that the male crew members participated in the discussion, continuing to evaluate the woman’s physical appearance in Said’s presence. The men reportedly attempted to draw Said into the conversation by soliciting her views, but she declined, stating that the dialogue was inappropriate. Said also recounted a separate incident involving a disagreement with Gutman over whether the team should leave a work site. She alleges that he made a “sexualized insinuation” suggesting she must have an after-hours date. According to the suit, the remark was made audibly to others and served to demean Said while reducing her professional judgment to a sexualized stereotype.
Said worked as a field producer at ABC News’ LA bureau from May 2021 to March 2025. Gutman joined ABC News in 2008 as a radio correspondent before later serving as 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. has reached out to CBS News, ABC News, and representatives for Said for comment regarding these claims.
Gutman has faced previous controversies during his time at ABC News. Last September, he faced condemnation for describing text messages from Tyler Robinson—who was charged with the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk—as “very touching in a way we did not expect.” Gutman later issued an apology for his choice of words. Furthermore, he faced significant scrutiny in 2020 after erroneously reporting on air that all four of Kobe Bryant’s children had died in the helicopter crash that claimed the lives of the Lakers legend, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and seven others. ABC News suspended him following the erroneous report.
Beyond the allegations against Gutman, Said’s complaint accuses ABC and former LA bureau chief David Herndon of forcing her to work despite being under protected medical leave. In 2022, she was assigned to cover the aftermath of the Robb Elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, where 19 students and two teachers were killed. Said claims she experienced “severe psychological symptoms” during this period. Prior to that assignment, she had tested positive for COVID-19 and experienced symptoms while in Uvalde. A psychiatrist granted her medical leave from August 2022 through January 2023, at which point she was cleared to return to work “subject to reasonable accommodations designed to enable her to perform the essential functions of the position while protecting against re-exposure to trauma triggers.”
The lawsuit alleges that ABC denied her request for accommodations and that 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 subsequently “demoted” to working weekend desk shifts around March 2023. ABC terminated her employment 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 states that Said reported the injury to her supervisors, but a Disney physician evaluated her and determined that the injury did not require her to take leave.
