What Changed Since the Lawsuit Was Filed

• Matt Gutman and former ABC executive David Herndon were dismissed without prejudice as individual defendants.
• ABC News and The Walt Disney Company remain defendants, and no court has determined that Said’s allegations are true.
• Gutman and Herndon may still face depositions and could appear as witnesses if the case reaches trial.

By Samuel López | USA Herald

LOS ANGELES — Six weeks after former ABC News producer Samira Said filed a wrongful-termination lawsuit containing harassment allegations against journalist Matt Gutman, the case looks considerably different.

On September 4, Said’s attorneys filed papers seeking to dismiss Gutman and former ABC News Los Angeles bureau chief David Herndon as individual defendants without prejudice. ABC News and its parent, The Walt Disney Company, remain defendants. The filing gave no public explanation for removing the two men.

That distinction matters. A dismissal without prejudice is not a judicial finding that Said’s allegations were either true or false. No court has adjudicated the merits of her accusations against Gutman.

It also does not make Gutman irrelevant to the litigation.

The September 4 agreement contains a provision largely overlooked in the early headlines: ABC agreed to use “reasonable efforts” to make Gutman and Herndon available for properly noticed depositions and, if they remain under ABC’s control, facilitate their appearance at trial after valid subpoenas. The defendants also retained the ability to conduct discovery concerning matters involving Gutman and Herndon that are relevant to the complaint, defenses or claimed damages.

In other words, the lawsuit has shifted from Gutman as a defendant to Gutman potentially becoming an important witness.

Said’s original complaint alleges Gutman participated in two inappropriate workplace incidents. One allegedly involved a conversation in which a female correspondent’s appearance was numerically rated; another involved what Said characterizes as a sexualized insinuation about why she wanted to remain at a work location. Gutman has not been found liable for either allegation.

The complaint also says Said was assigned to an otherwise all-male crew. That fact, standing alone, establishes no wrongdoing. Its possible legal significance comes from the conduct Said alleges occurred during the assignment—not from the gender composition of the news crew itself.

More broadly, Said’s case is an employment action alleging discrimination, harassment, retaliation, failure to reasonably accommodate, wrongful termination and other claims arising from her employment at ABC from 2021 until March 2025. She seeks compensatory and punitive damages and attorneys’ fees. ABC and Disney remain the parties facing those claims.

California law also makes the defendant change worth watching. The California Supreme Court has held that nonemployer supervisors generally are not personally liable under FEHA for employment discrimination or retaliation, although harassment is treated differently. That means it would be a mistake to assume the September dismissal either proves the allegations lacked merit or was automatically required by California law. The filing itself does not say why Said agreed to dismiss Gutman and Herndon.

As of September 24, 2026, USA Herald could not independently verify a newly scheduled hearing date through the publicly indexed court information available online. Nor does the material reviewed establish that depositions have already occurred or identify a pending discovery dispute. The September 4 agreement does, however, expressly contemplate future depositions and other discovery involving the former individual defendants.

Los Angeles Superior Court provides case summaries, future hearing calendars and document images through its official civil court system, while name searches and some document downloads carry public-access fees.

Readers can access the court’s official records system through the Los Angeles Superior Court Civil Case Access portal. A publicly available copy of Said’s original complaint is also available as a PDF hosted by Variety.

Unless the parties resolve the dispute, the next meaningful phase should center less on headline allegations and more on evidence: Said’s accommodation requests, ABC’s responses, internal communications, assignment decisions, medical-leave records, the reasons documented for her termination and testimony from the people who were there. Gutman may no longer be defending himself as a party, but the September 4 agreement makes clear that his connection to the case has not disappeared.

About the Author

Samuel López is a reporter and news correspondent for USA Herald, where he has reported since 2022. López is a seasoned legal analyst with more than two decades of experience reviewing state and federal litigation, complex legal matters, court filings and evidentiary records. His legal background informs USA Herald’s continuing coverage of employment litigation, court proceedings and developing lawsuits.

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