Seven claims former Sunrise producer exhibited “aggressive, inappropriate and misogynistic behaviour”
Former Sunrise producer Matthew McGrane is suing Seven
Seven has denied a former Sunrise producer’s legal claim that his role was reduced and promotions blocked after an accident, saying he often acted aggressively and left young female colleagues in tears.
Matthew McGrane, the supervisor producer at Sunrise, initially filed a Fair Work claim, after seriously injuring himself while travelling home from Seven’s studios in Sydney in 2023.
McGrane uses a wheelchair and claims the injury occurred while travelling between the studios and his home, during a shift. He alleged that his employers allowed him to split his workday between home and the office, in order to catch wheelchair-accessible buses before they ended for the night.
However, a workers’ compensation claim was rejected by GIO after Seven denied there was a formal agreement allowing McGrane to divide his shift between Seven’s studio and his home.
After this, McGrane appeared on ABC’s Four Corners during a segment on Seven’s workplace practices, where he expressed his “disbelief that this would happen”.
He then filed suit in April 2025, claiming his duties were reduced after the accident, and he was overlooked for a promotion to be Sunrise’s executive producer.
In the lawsuit, McGrane said the rejection of his compensation claim left him “devastated and in disbelief” and that his subsequent treatment by Seven caused “feelings of hopelessness”.
He is seeking workers’ compensation and civil penalties.
In response, Seven claims that while McGrane was on extended leave following the accident, Sarah Stinson, Seven’s director of morning television, was informed of numerous complaints from staffers working under his supervision.
In a legal filing seen by Mumbrella, and first reported by Nine, Sunrise staffers allegedly complained that McGrane, “frequently exhibited aggressive behaviour, including swearing, shouting and harshly dismissing the ideas of other employees; belittled other employees if they made mistakes; was rude and disrespectful to other employees [and] made inappropriate comments about the appearance of presenters while they were on television.”
Producers working under McGrane allegedly stated they were “unwilling to be supervised by him”, as the manner in which he spoke to them “made them feel unsafe”, and that several young female producers claimed he “often left them in tears.”
Feedback raised by female employees alleged McGrane “was so volatile” and was “observed to say words to the effect of ‘you look fat, that’s disgusting’ [and] ‘wear a more low-cut top’ about presenters while looking at the television.”
In addition to these in-person remarks, Seven alleged McGrane “exhibited aggressive, inappropriate and misogynistic behaviour towards women” in emails. A number of female staffers reported to Seven that they were “extremely concerned” at the prospect of McGrane returning to work.
Various redacted portions from emails, as included in Seven’s filing
It further claims that McGrane’s appearance in the Four Corners segment, “designed specifically to target and disparage” the network, was a breach of his employee contract, which states he would not act in conflict with Seven’s best interests, appear on a competing broadcaster, or provide information to the media regarding his job.
Seven claims McGrane considered the Four Corners interview as an “insurance policy”, a way to “blow things up” and an opportunity to “get millions” from Seven. It considers McGrane’s appearance on the ABC program a “significant breach of trust and confidence.”
Regarding his workload being reduced after his accident, Seven alleges that 14 different “certificates of capacity” issued by McGrane’s doctor between December 2023 and May 2025 indicated that he had “limited and for the most part no capacity to work.”
Seven ends its filing by rattling off a list of reasons McGrane was overlooked for the role of executive producer of Sunrise: his “lack of capacity”, the Four Corners interview, his “inappropriate behaviour”, the negative feedback regarding this and the “misogynistic correspondence.”
“The respondent did not consider that the applicant was performing or capable of performing the role of executive producer of Sunrise to the requisite standard and did not consider the applicant for the position for these reasons alone,” the claim added.
McGrane is currently on personal leave and remains a Seven employee.
