Overview
- Samira Said filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday, Aug. 14, 2026, naming Matt Gutman, ABC News and The Walt Disney Company and alleging hostile work environment, discrimination and wrongful termination.
- The complaint details two incidents in which Gutman allegedly made sexualized comments on assignments that reduced a colleague’s professional standing to a sexualized stereotype.
- Said says ABC denied psychiatrist‑recommended accommodations after she suffered trauma covering the 2022 Uvalde school shooting, that she was demoted in 2023 and that ABC terminated her employment on March 5, 2025.
- Gutman denied the harassment allegations in a statement to the Los Angeles Times and representatives for ABC, CBS and Disney have not issued full public responses.
- Said is seeking compensatory and punitive damages and attorneys’ fees and the case will now move into the civil litigation process where discovery, defendant responses and potential settlement or trial can follow.