CBS News correspondent Matt Gutman is facing serious accusations from a former ABC News colleague who claims he made sexualized remarks in the workplace, according to a wrongful-termination lawsuit filed in California.
Former ABC News field producer Samira Said named Gutman in a complaint filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court against ABC parent company Disney and others.
Said, who worked in ABC News’ Los Angeles bureau from May 2021 until March 2025, is seeking unspecified damages and alleges she faced discrimination, retaliation and a hostile work environment before ultimately losing her job.
Gutman, who previously worked for ABC News before joining CBS News, is mentioned in the lawsuit in connection with two alleged incidents involving inappropriate comments.
According to the complaint, Said was once assigned to a team that included Gutman and two other male crew members when a conversation allegedly turned to the appearance of a female correspondent.
The lawsuit claims Gutman began discussing the woman’s looks and allegedly rated her appearance using a numerical score based on her physical attributes.
Other male members of the crew allegedly joined in, with the lawsuit claiming the group continued discussing the woman’s body and appearance while Said was present.
Said claims the men then tried to pull her into the conversation by asking for her opinion.
She allegedly refused to participate and told them the discussion was inappropriate.
The lawsuit describes a second alleged encounter during a press event for a movie release.
According to Said, she and Gutman disagreed over whether their team should leave the work site.
The complaint claims Gutman then suggested, in front of several coworkers, that Said must have an after-hours date in the city and that was the real reason she did not want to relocate.
Said argues the remark undermined her professional judgment and turned the workplace disagreement into a sexualized stereotype.
The allegations involving Gutman are only one part of Said’s broader lawsuit against ABC and Disney.
Said also claims her relationship with the network deteriorated after she covered the devastating 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
According to the complaint, Said experienced severe psychological symptoms following the assignment while also dealing with lingering effects from COVID-19.
She was reportedly granted medical leave from August 2022 until January 2023.
Said alleges that when her psychiatrist later cleared her to return to work with recommended accommodations, ABC refused those requests and instead required her to return without restrictions and remain available for a full workweek.
She claims she was later reassigned to weekend desk shifts and faced additional negative treatment.
The situation allegedly came to a head in March 2025.
Said claims she suffered a foot injury while covering dangerous weather conditions and reported the injury to the company.
She says she was subsequently fired.
Her lawsuit accuses ABC and Disney of discrimination based on gender, ancestry and disability, as well as retaliation, failure to accommodate her medical needs, hostile work environment harassment and other alleged violations.
The claims have not been proven in court, and the lawsuit represents Said’s allegations.
