Matt Gutman, now a chief correspondent at CBS News, has been dropped as a defendant from a wrongful termination lawsuit brought by former ABC News field producer Samaira Said, according to court filings made in Los Angeles Superior Court. Said's lawyers requested his removal from the case without giving a reason, though The Walt Disney Co., ABC and former Los Angeles bureau chief David Herndon remain as defendants. The move follows just three weeks after Gutman was first named in the suit, which had accused him of making demeaning, sexualised remarks about Said.

The lawsuit, filed last month, alleges wrongful termination, discrimination, hostile work environment harassment and retaliation, with Said claiming she was let go after being denied accommodations for mental health issues, including depression, for which she was receiving psychiatric treatment. It detailed incidents in which Gutman allegedly rated a female correspondent's appearance in front of Said and made a sexualised insinuation about her personal life during a work dispute. Said also said she rushed her return from medical leave in 2022 after covering Covid and the Uvalde mass shooting, fearing she would lose her job. Neither CBS News nor ABC News has commented on the litigation.