A veteran Seven producer has launched a Fair Work claim after a fall from his wheelchair in 2023 left him seriously injured, arguing the network worsened the situation by reducing his duties and leaving him “distressed, upset and humiliated”.
The Sydney Morning Herald’s Kishor Napier-Raman reports that Seven’s defence flips the script, accusing former Sunrise producer Matthew McGrane of aggressive and misogynistic behaviour toward female colleagues, including profane and sexist emails.
A Seven spokesperson said in a statement: “As this matter is before the court, Seven is unable to comment. Seven will defend its position.”
Matthew McGrane sues Seven
The SMH reports that McGrane, a wheelchair user with a medical condition, claims he was seriously injured when he fell while commuting home from Seven’s Eveleigh studios in Sydney in 2023.
McGrane claims the incident resulted in pain and necessitated surgery.
The producer has been with Seven for more than two decades and remains an employee while on personal leave.
In legal documents filed with the Federal Court in April 2025, McGrane said that in the course of his employment, he worked part of his shift from home while rostered on night shifts so he could catch wheelchair-accessible buses before they stopped for the night.
The claim says McGrane’s injuries occurred one day while returning home to complete a shift. Seven denied his workers’ compensation claim after the network told the insurer GIO that there was no formal agreement for split shifts.
The SMH reports that McGrane alleges that when he returned to work six months later, his duties at Sunrise were reduced, and he was denied a promotion to executive producer.
The producer also claims that he was discriminated against because of his physical disability, and for filing the workplace claim, which then caused him anxiety, distress and “feelings of hopelessness”.
McGrane is represented by Maurice Blackburn’s principal lawyer, Josh Bornstein.
McGrane’s interview with the ABC
McGrane was interviewed by ABC reporter Louise Milligan in a 2024 Four Corners episode on sexism and cultural problems at Seven.
He revealed he felt “abandoned, hurt [and] completely in disbelief that this would happen”.
Seven’s subsequent defence includes a complaint about the Four Corners interview: “The applicant [McGrane] stated that he considered the Four Corners interview as an ‘insurance policy’, a way to ‘blow things up’ with the respondent and in turn an opportunity to ‘get millions’ from the respondent.”
Seven further claims that, amongst other factors, the interview led to him not being considered for the Sunrise executive producer job.
Seven’s defence against McGrane
As reported by the SMH, Seven’s defence states that while the producer was on leave, it received multiple complaints from junior employees about “aggressive, inappropriate and unprofessional behaviour.”
Seven said it had been told by staff that McGrane was “aggressive all the time, whether that be swearing, shouting, it is all the time” and “was so volatile … would yell, scream, freeze”.
It is reported that he also allegedly used misogynistic language in emails, which included liberal use of profanity, including “c—”.
Mediation between the parties failed in 2025, and the matter is ongoing.
Main Image: Matthew McGrane via the ABC.