Richard Decker shows where a commercial-grade toilet fell on his head in 2010. Decker filed for worker’s compensation for the injury, eventually appealing the decision to the Labor and Industry Review Commission. The commission ruled against his doctors and for Kohler Co.’s independent medical examiners, who found Decker had fully healed from the injuries. Decker — who takes morphine for his pain, has developed a stutter and suffers from short-term memory loss — is receiving Social Security disability payments. Credit: Alexandra Hall / WPR/Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
Broken Whistle explores Gov. Scott Walker’s attack on waste, fraud and abuse and the dwindling protections and incentives for whistleblowers in Wisconsin.
Listen to reporter Alexandra Hall talk about this story on Wisconsin Public Radio’s Central Time.
Managing editor Dee J. Hall talks about this series on Wisconsin Public Television’s Here and Now, and Wisconsin Public Radio’s Central Time and on WORT.
The nonpartisan, nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism is increasing the quality and quantity of investigative reporting in Wisconsin, while training current and future investigative journalists. Its work fosters an informed citizenry and strengthens democracy.
The Center is a member of the Trust Project, a global network of news organizations that has developed transparency standards to help news readers assess the quality and credibility of journalism.
The Center is also a member The Global Investigative Journalism Network, an international network of nonprofit organizations founded to support, promote and produce investigative journalism.
The Center is also a founding member of the Institute for Nonprofit News, a group of nonprofit journalism organizations that conduct investigative reporting in the public interest.
Alexandra Hall, the Wisconsin Public Radio Mike Simonson Memorial Investigative Reporting Fellow, interviews Guillermo Ramos at dairy farm in northern Buffalo County, Wisconsin. Ramos, who is from Mexico, has worked there for 17 years.
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Ethics Policy
The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism is an independent, nonprofit and nonpartisan news organization that strives to uphold high standards of fairness and accuracy.
The Center’s ethics standards include the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics, adopted in 1996 and endorsed by thousands of journalists around the world. That code is reprinted below, with permission. WCIJ’s Board of Directors have also adopted a conflict of interest policy and a diversity statement, which appear after the SPJ Code of Ethics.
Additional standards guiding the Center’s operations include:
The Center’s Policy on Financial Support, which requires that the Center’s news coverage be independent of donors and that all providers of revenue will be publicly identified.
Membership standards of the Institute for Nonprofit News (originally Investigative News Network), the nation’s first consortium of nonprofit investigative news organizations. The Center is a founding member of INN and the standards, developed with assistance of the Center’s leaders, require members to disclose information about donors and financial practices, produce nonpartisan investigative journalism, and apply high journalistic standards for accuracy and fairness.
Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics
Preamble
Members of the Society of Professional Journalists believe that public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy. The duty of the journalist is to further those ends by seeking truth and providing a fair and comprehensive account of events and issues. Conscientious journalists from all media and specialties strive to serve the public with thoroughness and honesty. Professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalist’s credibility. Members of the Society share a dedication to ethical behavior and adopt this code to declare the Society’s principles and standards of practice.
Seek Truth and Report It
Journalists should be honest, fair and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information.
Journalists should:
Test the accuracy of information from all sources and exercise care to avoid inadvertent error. Deliberate distortion is never permissible.
Diligently seek out subjects of news stories to give them the opportunity to respond to allegations of wrongdoing.
Identify sources whenever feasible. The public is entitled to as much information as possible on sources’ reliability.
Always question sources’ motives before promising anonymity. Clarify conditions attached to any promise made in exchange for information. Keep promises.
Make certain that headlines, news teases and promotional material, photos, video, audio, graphics, sound bites and quotations do not misrepresent. They should not oversimplify or highlight incidents out of context.
Never distort the content of news photos or video. Image enhancement for technical clarity is always permissible. Label montages and photo illustrations.
Avoid misleading re-enactments or staged news events. If re-enactment is necessary to tell a story, label it.
Avoid undercover or other surreptitious methods of gathering information except when traditional open methods will not yield information vital to the public. Use of such methods should be explained as part of the story.
Never plagiarize.
Tell the story of the diversity and magnitude of the human experience boldly, even when it is unpopular to do so.
Examine their own cultural values and avoid imposing those values on others.
Avoid stereotyping by race, gender, age, religion, ethnicity, geography, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance or social status.
Support the open exchange of views, even views they find repugnant.
Give voice to the voiceless; official and unofficial sources of information can be equally valid.
Distinguish between advocacy and news reporting. Analysis and commentary should be labeled and not misrepresent fact or context.
Distinguish news from advertising and shun hybrids that blur the lines between the two.
Recognize a special obligation to ensure that the public’s business is conducted in the open and that government records are open to inspection.
Minimize Harm
Ethical journalists treat sources, subjects and colleagues as human beings deserving of respect.
Journalists should:
Show compassion for those who may be affected adversely by news coverage. Use special sensitivity when dealing with children and inexperienced sources or subjects.
Be sensitive when seeking or using interviews or photographs of those affected by tragedy or grief.
Recognize that gathering and reporting information may cause harm or discomfort. Pursuit of the news is not a license for arrogance.
Recognize that private people have a greater right to control information about themselves than do public officials and others who seek power, influence or attention. Only an overriding public need can justify intrusion into anyone’s privacy.
Show good taste. Avoid pandering to lurid curiosity.
Be cautious about identifying juvenile suspects or victims of sex crimes.
Be judicious about naming criminal suspects before the formal filing of charges.
Balance a criminal suspect’s fair trial rights with the public’s right to be informed.
Act Independently
Journalists should be free of obligation to any interest other than the public’s right to know.
Journalists should:
Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived.
Remain free of associations and activities that may compromise integrity or damage credibility.
Refuse gifts, favors, fees, free travel and special treatment, and shun secondary employment, political involvement, public office and service in community organizations if they compromise journalistic integrity.
Disclose unavoidable conflicts.
Be vigilant and courageous about holding those with power accountable.
Deny favored treatment to advertisers and special interests and resist their pressure to influence news coverage.
Be wary of sources offering information for favors or money; avoid bidding for news.
Be Accountable
Journalists are accountable to their readers, listeners, viewers and each other.
Journalists should:
Clarify and explain news coverage and invite dialogue with the public over journalistic conduct.
Encourage the public to voice grievances against the news media.
Admit mistakes and correct them promptly.
Expose unethical practices of journalists and the news media.
Abide by the same high standards to which they hold others.
More information about SPJ and its Code of Ethics is available at www.spj.org.
Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism Conflict of Interest Policy
The following Financial Conflict of Interest Policy (“Conflict of Interest Policy”) is an effort (i) to ensure that the deliberations and decisions of the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism (“WCIJ”) are made solely in the interest of promoting the quality of journalism in the state of Wisconsin, and (ii) to protect the interests of WCIJ when it considers any transaction, contract, or arrangement that might benefit or be perceived to benefit the private interest of a person affiliated with WCIJ (each, a “WCIJ Representative”). As used in this Conflict of Interest Policy, a WCIJ Representative includes any director, advisory board member, financial advisor, legal counsel or employee.
Duty to WCIJ. Each WCIJ Representative owes a duty to WCIJ to advance WCIJ’s legitimate interests when the opportunity to do so arises. Each WCIJ Representative must give undivided allegiance when making decisions affecting the organization. Similarly, WCIJ Representatives must be faithful to WCIJ’s non-profit mission and are not permitted to act in a way that is inconsistent with the central goals of the organization and its non-profit status.
Gifts. No WCIJ Representative shall personally accept gifts or favors that could compromise his or her loyalty to WCIJ. Any gifts or benefits personally accepted from a party having a material interest in the outcome of WCIJ or its employees by a WCIJ Representative individually should be merely incidental to his or her role as a WCIJ Representative and should not be of substantial value. Any gift with a value of $250 or more, or any gifts with a cumulative value in excess of $250 received by a WCIJ Representative in any twelve-month period from a single source, shall be considered substantial. Cash payments may not be accepted, and no gifts should be accepted if there are strings attached. For example, no WCIJ Representative may accept gifts if he or she knows that such gifts are being given to solicit his or her support of or opposition to the outcome or content of any WCIJ publication.
Personal Loans. WCIJ may not loan to, or guarantee the personal obligations of any WCIJ Representative.
Conflicts of Interest. The following are examples of conflicts of interest which must be promptly disclosed to the WCIJ Board of Directors pursuant to Section 4 below by any WCIJ Representative with knowledge of such conflict of interest:
(a) any real or apparent conflict of interest between a donor or the subject of a WCIJ publication or report and a WCIJ Representative;
(b) a WCIJ Representative’s ownership of an equity interest in a person or entity that is or will be the subject of a WCIJ publication or report; and
(c) failure to disclose to WCIJ all relationships between the subject of any WCIJ publication or report and any WCIJ Representative or close relatives of the WCIJ Representative.
Conflict Procedure:
(a) If a WCIJ Representative or party related to a WCIJ Representative has an interest in any contract, action or transaction to be entered into with WCIJ, a conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest exists. Any WCIJ Representative having knowledge that such a conflict of interest exists or may exist (an “Interested WCIJ Representative”) will so advise the Board of Directors promptly. An Interested WCIJ Representative will include in the notice the material facts as to the relationship or interest of the Interested WCIJ Representative in the entity proposing to enter into a contract, action or transaction with WCIJ.
(b) Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, the Board of Directors may authorize any committee appointed pursuant to the WCIJ by-laws (a “Committee”) to act in lieu of the Board of Directors in determining whether an action, contract or transaction is fair to WCIJ as of the time it is authorized or approved by the Committee.
(c) At any time that a conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest is identified, the Chair of the Board or a Chair of the applicable Committee will ensure that such conflict of interest is placed on the agenda for the next meeting of the Board of Directors or the Committee, as applicable. The notice of such meeting of the Board of Directors or the Committee, as applicable, will include, to the extent available when the notice is sent, a description of the conflict of interest matter to be discussed. By notice before the meeting or at the meeting, the directors on the board or the Committee, as applicable, will be advised that a vote will be taken at the meeting and that, in order to authorize the relevant contract, action or transaction, an affirmative vote of a majority of disinterested directors present at the meeting at which a quorum is present will be required and will be sufficient, even though the disinterested directors constitute less than a quorum of the Board of Directors or the Committee.
(d) Reasonable effort will be made to cause the material facts concerning the relationships between the individuals and WCIJ which create the conflict to be delivered to and shared with the members of the Board of Directors or the Committee, as applicable, prior to the meeting to enable the directors to arrive at the meeting prepared to discuss the issue. In the event it is not practicable to deliver the information prior to the meeting, it will be delivered to the directors at the meeting, and the directors can act upon the matter with the same authority as if notice had been given prior to the meeting.
(e) The Board of Directors or the Committee, as applicable, will invite all parties to the conflict of interest to attend the meeting, to make presentations and to be prepared to answer questions, if necessary. The Board or Directors or the Committee, as applicable, will also invite outside experts if necessary.
(f) At the meeting, providing a quorum is present, the conflict will be discussed to ensure that the directors present are aware of the issues and the factors involved. The interested directors may be counted for purposes of a quorum, even though they may not take part in any vote on the issues.
(g) The Board of Directors or the Committee, as applicable, must decide, in good faith, reasonably justified by the material facts, whether the action, contract or transaction would be in the best interest of WCIJ and fair to WCIJ as of the time it is authorized or approved.
(h) All interested directors must abstain from voting and, if necessary, leave the room when the vote is taken.
(i) The Board of Directors or the Committee, as applicable, will maintain a written account of all that transpires at the meeting and incorporate such account into the minutes of the meeting and disseminate it to the full Board of Directors. Such minutes will be presented for approval at the next meeting of the Board of Directors and maintained in the corporate record book.
(j) To the extent that the conflict of interest is continuing and the contract, action or transaction goes beyond one (1) year, the foregoing notice and discussion and vote will be repeated on an annual basis.
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Diversity Statement
The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism embraces diversity and inclusiveness in its journalism, training activities, hiring practices and workplace operations. The Center recognizes that its mission and society in general are strengthened by respecting individuals’ cultural traditions, beliefs and viewpoints. The Center further acknowledges that for its journalism, and our democracy, to attain their highest potential, a robust supply of reliable information about key issues must be accessible to all.
Inclusiveness is at the heart of thinking and acting as journalists. Our guiding principles: Protect the vulnerable. Expose wrongdoing. Explore solutions. The complex issues we face as a society require respect for different viewpoints. Race, class, generation, gender and geography all affect point of view. Reflecting these differences in our reporting leads to better, more-nuanced stories and a better-informed community.
Part of our commitment to diversity means being transparent about our own staff. Our latest demographic survey data may be found here. Information about the composition of the Center’s workforce in past years may be found in its responses to the American Society of News Editors Newsroom Employment Diversity Survey from 2017 and 2018. ASNE, now the News Leaders Association, paused data collection in 2020 to redesign the survey.
The Center recognizes that Wisconsin law bars employers from discrimination on the basis of:
Age, Ancestry, Arrest Record, Color, Conviction Record, Creed, Disability, Genetic Testing, Honesty Testing, Marital Status, Military Service, National Origin, Pregnancy or Childbirth, Race, Sex, Sexual Orientation, Use or nonuse of lawful products off the employer’s premises during nonworking hours. Employees may not be harassed in the workplace based on their protected status nor retaliated against for filing a complaint, for assisting with a complaint, or for opposing discrimination in the workplace.
Approved Sept. 8, 2010, updated May 8, 2018, by the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism Board of Directors
Our anti-racism stand and a pledge of action
On August 5, 2020, we published a statement representing the views of the entire Wisconsin Watch staff, including a pledge of action developed through weeks of discussion, research and reflection. The statement includes the following commitment.
We pledge to:
— Investigate and expose the histories and disparate impacts of systems on the lives of people of color.
— Explore solutions to problems not just through the perspectives of experts traditionally sought out by journalists, but also through the lived experiences of people who are finding ways to navigate existing societal systems.
— Embrace anti-racism, diversity, equity and inclusiveness in all of our journalism, and in our own newsroom, including collaborative efforts, the framing of news coverage and selection of news sources, plus in our training activities, hiring and retention practices, and workplace operations.
— Listen to your story ideas and welcome your contributions to our opinion and letters to the editors pages as forums for all voices.
We’ve developed fact-checking protocols here at the Center. But when an error slips by us, the best thing we can do to keep our readers’ trust is own up to it.
Our policy is to correct stories promptly and openly. If we find an error, we will fix the story and note on the page what has been corrected.
As most news outlets do, we distinguish between corrections (for mistakes) and clarifications (for vague or misleading content).
If you think we’ve made a mistake in a story, tell us!
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Ownership Structure, Funding
The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism is an independent nonprofit, nonpartisan 501(c)(3) organization that is primarily funded through grants from foundations and donations from individuals and corporations. Additional revenue is obtained through sponsorships of its events and activities, and from earned income — payments for providing services such as fact-checking, collaborating with students or producing investigative journalism projects.
More than 850 individuals, foundations, news organizations and other groups have contributed financially to the Center since its launch in 2009.
As a matter of policy, funders exercise no control over the Center’s editorial decisions, and all funders are publicly identified.
The Oklahoma-based foundation continued to support the Center with grants of $100,000 in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015; $75,000 in 2016; $50,000 in 2017 and 2018.
In 2010, the Center received a two-year $75,000 matching grant from Challenge Fund for Journalism VI, a joint program of the Ford Foundation in New York, the McCormick Foundation in Illinois and the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation. The Center successfully completed a campaign to raise those matching funds in 2011.
The Foundation to Promote Open Society, which works in cooperation with the Open Society Foundations in New York City, awarded the Center general support totaling $50,000 in 2009, $100,000 in 2010 (to be spread over two years), $35,000 in 2011, $350,000 in 2012 (to be spread over two years), $350,000 in 2014 (over two years) and $200,000 in 2016.
In 2011, the Center announced a partnership with MAPLight.org to investigate the influence of money in Wisconsin state politics and policymaking. The project was supported by the Open Society Institute. The Center received about $25,000 for this project in 2011 and a similar amount in the first half of 2012.
In 2013, The Joyce Foundation became a major supporter of the Center. The Chicago-based foundation awarded a $100,000 grant that was split by the Center and MinnPost, a nonprofit news organization, to support in-depth coverage of key issues in Wisconsin and Minnesota. The grant funded coverage of political reform, environmental protection and gun violence issues in Wisconsin, as well as political reform in Minnesota. In 2014, Joyce awarded the Center $50,000 to support coverage of democracy, the environment and gun violence prevention. That was followed by a two-year grant in 2016, awarding $50,000 annually to support coverage of democracy, the environment and gun violence prevention. In 2018, The Joyce Foundation awarded the Center a two-year grant of $100,000 a year. In 2020, the foundation awarded the Center a two-year general support grant of $150,000 a year.
The Evjue Foundation, the charitable arm of The Capital Times in Madison, is a major supporter of the Center. The foundation made contributions to WCIJ in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012, and in 2013, significantly increased its support to $20,000 — the largest single contribution received from a Wisconsin donor. Evjue repeated its $20,000 support in 2014 and 2015, and increased its giving to $30,000 in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019. It contributed $10,000 in 2020.
At the end of 2017, the Center was awarded $28,000 from NewsMatch, now funded by an expanded number of donors, for meeting the program’s fundraising goals, and in 2018, the Center was awarded $27,000 from NewsMatch. The Center successfully attained its 2019 NewsMatch goal and also was selected to receive an additional $10,000 from REI Co-op.
In 2015, the Vital Projects Fund, based in New York City, became a major supporter, contributing $25,000 to support the Center’s coverage of criminal justice issues. It provided $20,000 in 2016, $15,000 in 2017 and $20,000 in 2019.
The Reva & David Logan Foundation, based in Chicago, became a major supporter of the Center in 2017 with a general support grant of $100,000. The foundation awarded the Center $125,000 grants in 2018 and 2019. In 2020, the foundation awarded the Center a three-year grant of $150,000 a year.
The Center also is grateful for support it received from the Peters Family Foundation in Utah in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019; the Wisconsin State Journal in 2009, 2012, 2013 and 2014; and the Wisconsin Newspaper Association and its related foundation, which provided $10,000 in 2014 and 2015, $14,000 in 2016, $20,000 in 2017, and $5,000 in 2019 and 2020.
In 2016, the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication received a grant from the Ira and Ineva Reilly Baldwin Wisconsin Idea Endowment to establish a class in fact-checking and to create The Observatory website to publish fact-checked reports and information about fact-checking. The Center, in turn, received a contract of $15,000 in the first year and $10,000 in the second to develop and launch the website and assist in fact-checking, editing and distribution of content. The Center is training students and raising the supply of high-quality verified journalism.
In 2017, the School of Journalism and Mass Communication received a three-year grant totaling $120,000 from the Ira and Ineva Reilly Baldwin Wisconsin Idea Endowment to collaborate with the Center on production of investigative reports by students that are published on the Center’s website and distributed to media partners across the state and nation. The Center was paid through a contract.
In 2019, Houston philanthropists Laura and John Arnold, founders of Arnold Ventures, became major supporters of the Center, with a $100,000 gift of general operating support. They also provided a gift of $100,000 in 2020.
In 2019, the Lau and Bea Christensen Charitable Foundation donated $10,000 to support the Center.
In 2019, Mary and Ken Rouse donated $50,000 to the Center from the estate of their friend, Roger “Whitey” Bruesewitz.
In 2019, Susan Troller Cosgrove and her husband, Howard Cosgrove, established a fund in memory of her mother, Dorothy Mae Johnson Troller, a 1949 UW-Madison journalism graduate, to support the work of journalism students at the Center. They are contributing $10,000 a year in the first phase of the fund.
In 2019, the Wm. Collins Kohler Foundation awarded the Center a gift of $35,000 a year for three years to support fact-checking and other efforts to strengthen the integrity of journalism.
LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman became a major supporter of the Center in 2019 with a $100,000 gift of general operating support.
Members of the Center’s Board of Directors, who serve as volunteers, are financial supporters of the organization.
The Center has received revenue for producing reports and conducting interviews through arrangements with the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit investigative news organization in Washington, D.C.; WBEZ Public Media in Chicago; American University’s J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism; Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting; Sarah Colt Productions in New York City; HuffPost; and NPR.
In 2017, the Center launched the Watchdog Club to enrich members’ experience with investigative journalism, and to involve these loyal members in efforts to transform the Center into a larger, more financially resilient organization. These members donate $1,000 or more a year per household.
In 2019, the Center created the Leadership Circle, a group of Watchdog Club members taking a leadership role in sustaining investigative reporting and the training of investigative journalists. These members donated $5,000 or more in 2019:
Laura and John Arnold Mary Burke Lau and Bea Christensen Charitable Foundation Susan Troller Cosgrove and Howard Cosgrove Evjue Foundation Wendy Fearnside and Bruce Meier Andy and Dee J. Hall Larry Hands and Karen Kendrick-Hands Phil and Tricia Hands Sally Mead Hands Foundation Reid Hoffman Barbara Johnson Wm. Collins Kohler Foundation Reva and David Logan Foundation David and Marion Meissner Peters Family Foundation Mary and Ken Rouse
In 2019 and 2020, the Center received subsidies (50% in year one, 33% in year two) to support the salary of a Report for America journalist who is producing an investigative podcast on police and prosecutorial misconduct in Wisconsin.
In 2019 and 2020, the Center received a total of $234,000 from the Google News Initiative to support the launch of News414, a collaborative project of the Center, Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and Outlier Media. News414 engages residents of underserved Milwaukee neighborhoods, responds to information requests via text message, investigates residents’ most pressing needs and delivers accountability journalism.
In 2019 and 2020, the Center received $100,000 grants from the Facebook Membership Accelerator, to support its development of a membership program and improvements to its digital infrastructure. The Lenfest Institute collaborated in the grantmaking.
In 2020, the Center received $8,500 from the Walton Family Foundation for its role in a collaborative reporting project on rural education during the pandemic. Six other newsrooms participated in the project, with assistance from the Institute for Nonprofit News.
In 2020, the Center received a $93,581 forgivable loan under the federal Paycheck Protection Program to support its operations through the economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic.
In 2020, the Center received $20,000 from First Draft to support the work of Howard Hardee, one of First Draft’s fellows reporting on misinformation and disinformation in the 2020 election.
In 2020, Craig Newmark Philanthropies provided a $70,000 grant to the Center for its role in the Election Integrity Project to safeguard the voices of voters. The Center collaborated with the UW-Madison Center for Journalism Ethics, which also received grant money, to produce tools for the public and journalists to discern what’s credible, and what’s not.
In 2020, ProPublica’s Electionland project provided a 25% subsidy of a Center reporter’s salary to support coverage of voting issues.
In 2020, the Center received $51,000 from Votebeat, a nonprofit newsroom covering local election administration and voting in eight states, created by Chalkbeat. The Center works with two reporters and an editor on stories focusing on Wisconsin elections and voting.
Our financial supporters
(Updated November 2020)
A to Z Produce and Bakery
Lisa Aarli and Gail Owens
Helen Aarli
Abbotsford Tribune Phonograph
Linda and James Adams
Jason Alcorn
Amazon Smile
Judy Amery-Ryland
Diane Ames
Noel Anderson
Elizabeth Andre
Margaret Andrietsch
Mary Anglim
Lynn and Dr. Tom Ansfield
Charles Anstett
David Antonioni
Susan Applegate
Appleton Post-Crescent Community Fund
Claudia Apuzzo
Laura and John Arnold
Michael Arnold
Joan Arnold
Alexandra Arriaga
Alicia Artus
Jeff Ash
Russell Attoe
Jan Axelson
Elizabeth Backes
Adam Balin and Karin Mahony
Bunny Balk
Ellen Balthazor
Robbi Bannen
Daniel Barr
Jeffrey Bartelll
Eileen Bartos
Bastian Family Foundation
Frank W. Bastian
Janet Battista
Chuck Bauer and Charles Beckwith
Mary Kay Baum
Herman Baumann and Kay Schwichtenberg
Keith and Juli Baumgartner
Eileen Beamish
Sheridan Bearheart
Steven Beatty
Beaver Dam Daily Citizen
Joseph and Josefina Beck
Barbara Beck
Madeleine Behr
Ann Behrmann
Barbara Bend
Daniel Bennett
Tracy Benton
Jacob Berchem
Laura Berger
Eyoel Berhane
Bill Berry
Stephen Berry
Paul Bickford
Tom and Katherine Bier
Kathy Bissen
Lynn Bjorkman
Kayla Blado
Bev Blietz
Karen Blofeld
Blue Valley Farms
Matthew Boben
Walt Bogdanich
Teri Boggess
Rod Bohn
Jane Boland
Peter Bonnes
Eric Booth
Alan Borsuk
Deanna Bowden
Nicholas Boyle
Maureen Brady
Nancy Bralick
Daniel Brand
Sirianna Brand
Kathleen Brazaitis
Elizabeth Brenner and Steve Ostrofsky
Malcolm and Penny Brett
Elizabeth Brixey
Dylan Brogan
Aimee and Karl Broman
Craig Brooks
Sandra Kay and James Brooks
Wesley Brooks
Suzanne Brooks
Sue Brouillette
Martha Brown
Joanne Brown
Kelly Bryant
Roger Buffett
Roland Buhler
Brian and Margaret Bull
Jay Bullock
Tucker Burch
Jim and Catherine Burgess
Elaine Burke
Mary Burke
Jane Burns
Brad Burrill
Jay Burseth
Paul Burton
Helen Bush
Michael Cain
John Calabrese
Stephen Caldwell
Linda and Edward Calhan
Tom and Patti Cameron
Peter Cameron
Marsha and Peter Cannon
Capital Times
Denis Carey and Carol Koby Carey
Duncan Carlsmith Carlsmith
Dick and Kim Cates
Julia Cechvala
Louisa Cenatiempo
Janice Chernik
Robert Christofferson
Joel Christopher
Dave Cieslewicz
Catherine Cleary
Pamela Clinkenbeard
Ned Cochrane and Bonnie Cox
Marcus and Sheila Cohen
Sarah Cohen
Scott Cohn
Rebecca Cole
Joanne and Jim Collins
Comfypac
Sara Companik
Daniel Conley
Tim Conroy
Linda Cooke
Bill Cooney
Marcy Cox
Craig Newmark Philanthropies
Mike Crane
David Crawford
Robert Crawford
Julie Crego
Dorothy Crenshaw
Sue Cross
Kathleen Culver
Nora Cusack and Brent Nicastro
Betty and Corkey Custer
Annette Czarnecki
Debra Dahlke
John Daigle
Tim Damos
James Danky and Christine Schelshorn
Susan Davenport
Judith Davidoff
Brian A. Davis and Deborah M. Umstead
Thulani Davis
Dead Bird Brewing Co.
Jason Dean
Dorothy Dean
Catherine Decker
Brenda DeJong
Carroll Delaney
Ann Delwiche
Martha Deming
Democracy Fund
Pam Dempsey
Ann Dencker
Jerry Depew
Matt DeRienzo
Claire and Chris DeRosa
Glenn Deutsch
Fernando Diaz
Mary Dibble
Robert Dohnal
Linda Donnelly
Richard Doxtator
Betsy Draine
Robert and Lynn Drechsel
Robert Dreps and Elizabeth Koehl
Joel Dresang
William and Gretchen Dresen
Kathleen Drew
Robert Dreyfus
Thomas and Andy Dukehart
Coburn Dukehart
Caroline Dunham
Bill Dunn
Sharon Dunwoody and Stephen Glass
Claire Duquette
John Durbrow
Kristen Durst
Margarita Dusek
Krista Eastman
Kaye Eckert
Karen and Anthony Eclavea
Jennifer and John Edmondson
Jane Edson
Richard Eggleston
Lynne and Bill Eich
Joe Eisele
El Grito Taqueria
Loren Elkin
Eric Englund
Marlene Enright
James Erickson
Dale Erlandson
Kathleen Esqueda
Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation
Mark and Sara Eversden
Evjue Foundation
John Eyster
Facebook Journalism Project
Facebook Membership Accelerator
Kristeen and Todd Fansler
Michael and Gloria Fauerbach
Robert and Marianne Fazen
Wendy Fearnside and Bruce Meier
Fredrika Feeny
Gary Feider
Margaret Fennig
Paul and Sarah Ferguson
William Field
Vincent Filak
First Draft
Beth Flaherty
Michael Flaherty
Dan Flannery
Anita Flantz
Dorothy Ann Flood-Smith
Kelvin Fodolfo
Ford Foundation
Susan Fowler
Philip Fransen
Georgette Frazer
David Freedman and Harriet Kohn
Kathy Freise
Caroline Fribance
Lewis Friedland and Stacey Oliker
Lauren and Eric Fuhrmann
Fund for Environmental Journalism
Fund for Investigative Journalism
Dennis Gaffney
Susan Gagainis
Bridget Gallagher
Peter Gascoyne and Claudia English
Sharon and Warren Gaskill
Frank S. Gattolin
Robert Gebeloff
Janet and Derrick Gee
Aviva Gellman
Cindy Gengler
Maureen A Gerarden
Christia Gibbons
Scott Gierman
Mark Giese
Dan Gillmor
Rebecca Gilsdorf
Geri Girard
Neil and Cindy Gleason
Christopher and Erin Glueck
Robert Godfrey
Richard Goldberg and Lisa Munro
Marian Goldeen
Kathleen Golden
Dorothy Golush
Dr. Lawrence and Hannah Goodman
Lee Goodwin
Google News Initiative
Linda Gorens-Levey and Michael Levey
Teresa Gorman
Stephanie Govin-Matzat
Kevin Grasse
Lucas Graves
James Grayson
Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s Nickel Fund
Jessica and Brad Green
Gareth Green
Mary Green
Dianne Greenley
Peter and Barbara Grenier
Elizabeth Griffith
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Founding Date
2009-01-19
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Part of our mission at Wisconsin Watch is to train the next generation of journalists and those working in the business of journalism. After team members leave our offices, they move on to jobs in journalism and other fields, where they put the skills they learned at the Center to use by holding the powerful to account, creating innovative ways of engaging with the public and sustaining high-quality journalism, and strengthening our society. See where our former staff, fellows and interns are now.
Andy Hall, a co-founder of the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism and a former Investigative Reporters and Editors board member, won dozens of awards for his reporting in 26 years at the Wisconsin State Journal and The Arizona Republic. Since the Center’s launch in 2009, he has been responsible for the Center’s journalistic and financial operations. Hall began his career in 1982 as a copyboy at The New York Times. At The Republic, Hall helped break the “Keating Five” scandal involving Sen. John McCain. At the State Journal, Hall’s stories held government and the powerful accountable and protected the vulnerable through coverage that addressed the racial achievement gap in public schools and helped spark the creation of the nationally noted Schools of Hope volunteer tutoring program, revealed NCAA violations by University of Wisconsin athletes, and exposed appalling conditions in neglected neighborhoods such as Allied Drive and Worthington Park. Hall won a first-place award in 2008 for beat reporting from the Education Writers Association. He also has received National Headliner, Gerald Loeb, James K. Batten and Inland Press Association awards for investigative, financial, deadline and civic journalism coverage. Hall has served as a mentor to the staff of La Comunidad, a Spanish-language newspaper in Madison, and has taught numerous courses at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism & Mass Communication. He serves on the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council Board of Directors, Iowa Center for Public Affairs Journalism Board of Directors, and Indiana University Media School’s Journalism Alumni Board, of which he is president. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University and, in 2016, received a Distinguished Alumni Award from the IU Media School. He also serves as a member of the Institute for Nonprofit News membership task force to create and uphold high industry standards.
Dee J. Hall, a co-founder of the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, joined the staff as managing editor in June 2015. She is responsible for the Center’s daily news operations. She worked at the Wisconsin State Journal for 24 years as an editor and reporter focusing on projects and investigations. A 1982 graduate of Indiana University’s journalism school, Hall served reporting internships at the weekly Lake County Star in Crown Point, Ind., The Gary (Ind.) Post-Tribune, The Louisville (Ky.) Times and The St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times. Prior to returning to her hometown of Madison in 1990, she was a reporter for eight years at The Arizona Republic newspaper in Phoenix, where she covered city government, schools and the environment. During her 35-year journalism career, Hall has won more than three dozen local, state and national awards for her work, including the 2001 State Journal investigation that uncovered a $4 million-a-year secret campaign machine operated by Wisconsin’s top legislative leaders.
Lauren Fuhrmann joined the Center in 2011 after receiving her bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. At the Center, Fuhrmann leads revenue development efforts as well as public engagement initiatives, including events, social media, newsletter and promotional materials; tracks the distribution and assesses the impact of WCIJ’s news stories; assists with development of donors and writing of grant reports; handles bookkeeping duties; produces photos, audio and video content; and copyedits stories. A Wisconsin native, her reporting focused on environmental and health issues. Fuhrmann previously researched audience engagement as a social media intern for Harvest Public Media and spent two years as a multimedia reporter for KBIA 91.3 FM and the Columbia Missourian. Fuhrmann is vice president and treasurer of the Madison Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. She was among five young leaders in the inaugural group of “Future Headliners” honored in 2014 by the Wisconsin Newspaper Association and a member of the inaugural Emerging Leaders Council recognized by the Institute for Nonprofit News. In 2017, Fuhrmann became a Certified Nonprofit Accounting Professional.
Jay Burseth joined the Center in April 2020 as the Development Director. His role includes setting the organization’s vision for fundraising growth; building and executing a development plan; working directly with donors and other supporters to further the Center’s mission; managing grant proposals and reports; and leading the development team and interns to meet fundraising goals. Prior to joining the Center, Burseth led fundraising for the Milwaukee County Parks and was the Development Director for the Milwaukee-based public radio music station, WMSE 91.7. Burseth holds a Master’s in Nonprofit Management and Leadership from UW-Milwaukee, where he focused on fundraising and marketing in public media, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and History, also from UWM.
Coburn Dukehart joined the Center in 2016 as digital and multimedia director. Her role includes directing the Center’s visual strategy, creating visual and audio content, managing digital assets and training student and professional journalists. Dukehart previously was a senior photo editor at National Geographic, the picture and multimedia editor at NPR, a photo editor at USATODAY.com and washingtonpost.com, interned in the White House photo department, and worked for a London-based publishing group. She has received awards from the National Press Photographers Association, Pictures of the Year International and the White House News Photographers Association. Her multimedia and photography work has been honored with a Webby, a Gracie, a Murrow, a duPont, and Milwaukee Press Club awards, and she was nominated for a national Emmy. Dukehart received a bachelor’s degree in journalism and English from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She holds a master’s degree in photojournalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Jim Malewitz joined the Center in 2019 as investigations editor. His role includes editing, managing fellows and interns, facilitating cross-newsroom collaborations and investigative reporting. Malewitz has worked almost exclusively in nonprofit, public affairs journalism. He most recently reported on the environment for Bridge Magazine in his home state of Michigan, following four years as an energy and investigative reporter for the Texas Tribune. Malewitz previously covered energy and the environment for Stateline, a nonprofit news service in Washington, D.C. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, POLITICO Magazine and newspapers across the country. Malewitz majored in political science at Grinnell College in Iowa and holds a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Iowa. There, he was a founding staff member of the nonprofit Iowa Center for Public Affairs Journalism, where he serves on the board of directors.
Emily Neinfeldt joined the Center in September 2017 after graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in journalism and political science. She started as a public engagement and marketing intern before becoming membership manager in 2019 and membership director in 2021. Her role includes maintaining and improving the digital infrastructure and operations developed under the Facebook Local News Membership Accelerator program and recommending and leading implementation of audience-growth efforts including marketing initiatives. Before working at the Center, she was a news intern at Wispolitics.com. She has also worked as associate news editor, features editor and managing editor at The Badger Herald, an independent student newspaper. Neinfeldt is secretary of the Madison Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
Bram Sable-Smith, WPR Mike Simonson Memorial Investigative Reporting Fellow
Bram Sable-Smith joined the Center in 2019 as the Wisconsin Public Radio Mike Simonson Memorial Investigative Reporting Fellow. Before moving to Wisconsin he spent five years reporting on health care at KBIA in Columbia, Missouri and as a founding reporter of Side Effects Public Media, a public media reporting collaborative in the Midwest. He also taught radio journalism at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Sable-Smith’s contributed stories to National Public Radio’s Morning Edition and All Things Considered, American Public Media’s Marketplace and Kaiser Health News. His reporting has received two national Edward R. Murrow awards, two national Sigma Delta Chi awards, a health policy award from the Association of Health Care Journalists among others. Sable-Smith is a proficient Spanish speaker and a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis.
Phoebe Petrovic joined Wisconsin Watch in 2019 as a Report for America corps member. She is leading creation of an investigative podcast examining police and prosecutorial misconduct in Wisconsin. She formerly served as a general assignment reporter at Wisconsin Public Radio through the Lee Ester News Fellowship and, prior to that, was an editorial radio intern at “Reveal” from the Center for Investigative Reporting. She also worked as a producer for NPR’s “Here & Now” and a reporter for WCPN ideastream, Northeast Ohio’s NPR member station. Petrovic earned a bachelor’s degree in American Studies from Yale University, where she founded and led audio projects including Herald Audio, the first-ever audio section of an undergraduate publication, and “Small-Great Objects,” the first-ever podcast series installed at Yale University Art Gallery.
Vanessa Swales joined the Center as an investigative reporter in 2020. Swales is a multilingual British-American-Iranian reporter who has worked in London, New York, San Francisco and Málaga, Spain. She most recently completed a reporting fellowship at the New York Times. Swales is a graduate of the Spanish-language journalism program at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, where she specialized in investigative and data journalism. She previously worked for NBC Investigations, Reveal, Diario SUR and SUR in English. She speaks fluent Spanish, and intermediate French, and basic Italian and Farsi.
Bevin Christie joined News414, a collaboration between Wisconsin Watch, Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and Outlier Media, in August 2020. Christie is a social entrepreneur and community organizer, with a background in education reform and workforce development. Throughout her career, Christie has partnered with a variety of industries, public/private schools, community based organizations, and the Milwaukee community to build upon a belief that a culture healing, equity, and inclusion is key to Milwaukee being a better place to thrive not just survive. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Zeidler Group for Public Discussion, is a board member and on planning committees for Youth Frontiers Ethical Leadership Luncheon, Latino and Black Male Achievement Summit, Alverno Summit for Women and Girls, City of Milwaukee’s Black Male Achievement Council Education/Workforce Development Committee, and Milwaukee’s Boys and Men of Color Week. She also serves as a program committee member for Employee Milwaukee’s Board of Directors, and Milwaukee County’s Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE) Learning Community.
Claire DeRosa graduated from UW-Madison with a degree in journalism and political science in 2020. As graphic designer, she is responsible for creating project series graphics, logos, ads, page layouts and social media content for the Center. DeRosa serves as lead designer for Wisconsin Watch’s collaborative text-based service journalism project with Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and Outlier Media, News 414. She also serves as lead designer for the Center’s collaborative Election Integrity project with the Center for Journalism Ethics and First Draft covering disinformation in the 2020 presidential election. DeRosa studied 3D animation at the School of Motion during quarantine learning how to model, light, color and animate in Cinema 4D. Claire enjoys deejaying and producing electronic music in her free time.
Enjoyiana Nururdin, production assistant, investigative podcast
Enjoyiana Nururdin joined the Center in October 2019 as a reporting intern. She was promoted in March 2020 to the position of production assistant on the Center’s investigative podcast, which is examining police and prosecutorial misconduct in Wisconsin. Nururdin began her journalism career in middle school, working for the nonprofit Simpson Street Free Press. She currently is a junior studying Reporting and Strategic Communication and Political Economy, Philosophy and Politics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has interned for the Cap Times, WORT Radio and The Weekend Today Show at NBC in New York City.
Lauryn Azu, public engagement and marketing intern
Lauryn Azu joined Wisconsin Watch in January 2021 as a public engagement and marketing intern. She is pursuing a degree in journalism and Latin American studies and a certificate in digital studies. At UW-Madison she is senior copy editor of the online student publication The Black Voice. She has previously interned with the Center for Journalism Ethics as an Election Integrity Fellow, WDET-FM Detroit, the Journalism, Ethics, and Democracy Institute at the University of Notre Dame, and the Detroit Free Press. She’s interested in media literacy, language, technology, ethics, and finding creative ways to share stories that matter.
Dana Brandt joined Wisconsin Watch in January 2021 as an editorial intern. She is a senior at UW-Madison, where she studies journalism and English. Brandt has previously worked as a student fellow with the university’s Center for Journalism Ethics, as an investigative intern with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and as college news editor with the Daily Cardinal, an independent student newspaper on campus.
Will Cioci joined Wisconsin Watch in 2020 as a multimedia journalism intern. He is a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, pursuing a degree in Journalism, Environmental Studies, and Political Science. He has interned for state and local government in the past and works as a photographer and occasional reporter for the Daily Cardinal student newspaper at UW-Madison.
Clara Neupert joined the Center as a News414 intern in June 2020. Previously, Clara was the Ann Devroy fellow at The Washington Post and the Sally Webb Journalism intern at Wisconsin Public Radio. Clara holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from UW-Eau Claire, where they reported for the student newspaper and student radio station.
Abigail Steinberg, public engagement and marketing intern
Abigail Steinberg joined the Center in January 2021 as a public engagement and marketing intern. Steinberg began communications work as the opinion editor for The Badger Herald, an independent student newspaper, and has held internship positions with the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs, Madison Public Library Foundation, Planet Propaganda, and the Center for Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is a senior at UW studying strategic communication, political science, and public policy. Steinberg is an avid volunteer for the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Foundation and is excited to further her passion for journalism, communications, and public service with the Center.
Barbara Johnson joined the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism in 2016. A volunteer at the Center, Johnson draws upon her professional experience and contacts to strengthen the Center’s operations, with a special focus on the development of the Center’s business model. She was CEO and COO of four media companies in New York and Madison before her retirement in 2015. Johnson was a reporter and editor for 15 years before moving into business roles, winning national and state awards for her investigative stories. She has served on the boards of public and private companies and as an operating partner of a private equity firm. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan.
Christopher Glueck joined the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism in 2015, shortly after retiring from his position as a senior director of development at the University of Wisconsin Foundation. In his 12 years there, Glueck worked with alumni and friends of UW-Madison, primarily on behalf of the College of Letters & Science. Glueck had a broad focus, traveling throughout the nation and succeeding in helping a significant number of people realize their interests in supporting the university in a variety of ways, ranging from annual gifts to scholarships to chairs and professorships. Prior to that, Glueck spent 30 years in the high-tech field working in sales, product management, marketing and management positions, primarily with Wang Laboratories, Inc. and NCR Corporation. He earned a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from UW-Madison and a master’s in business administration from Rivier College (now Rivier University) in Nashua, New Hampshire.
Gail Kohl came to the Center in 2010 with more than 30 years of fundraising experience for both statewide and local organizations, including American Players Theatre, Taliesin Preservation Commission, Frank Lloyd Wright Heritage Tourism Program, United Cerebral Palsy, Seth Peterson Cottage Conservancy and Big Top Chautauqua. From 1993 until 2010, Kohl was development director of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters. Over her career, Kohl has been responsible for major gifts, project and operations funding, membership development and enhancement, strategic partnerships and alliances, event planning and coordination, special projects, proposal and grant writing.
Christa Westerberg is an attorney at Pines Bach LLP in Madison, Wisconsin, where she practices environmental, civil rights, and open government law. Since 2008, Westerberg has served as the vice president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council.
At the nonprofit and nonpartisan Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, accuracy is something we think about all the time. An integral step in our process happens after a reporter finishes a story but before the story reaches our readers’ eyes: fact-checking.
Every report we produce goes through a rigorous review. Managing Editor Dee J. Hall, or another fact-checker, typically spends between eight and 12 hours with the reporter verifying each and every word. Tack on the time it takes to vet multimedia elements, and we spend at least two full days scrutinizing each major package we distribute.
We believe it is time well spent.
“We’re in the information and fact business,” Hall said. “It is up to individual news editors to choose to run our stories, and they have to be able to trust us.”
Because even a minor fact error like a misspelled name could undermine the Center’s credibility, we take every measure we can to report with accuracy.
Former WCIJ reporter Bill Lueders stands next to four years’ worth of fact-checking materials from the weekly column he wrote. Credit: Sean Kirkby / Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
For each individual fact — a name or age, a report’s title, a summary of events, a quote or even an impression — the reporter must produce evidence of it from a reliable source. On a printed copy of the story, the fact-checker numbers the fact, while the reporter shows and marks its supporting evidence, which is also printed.
It is a version of a system graciously shared in 2009 by our colleagues at the nonprofit Center for Public Integrity — one we adopted to improve the accuracy of our journalism after two of our earliest reports contained mistakes.
Every fact-check reveals the need for additional editing to enhance clarity. Hall and the reporter also consider whether a story covers a topic fully and fairly.
“There are times during the fact-checking process where you identify gaps in the reporting,” Hall said. “Let’s say a fact you thought was correct is actually off, what else does that mean?”
It is not unusual for a reporter to be sent to do additional reporting after the first review.
In the end, every story has a thick paper file of fact-checking materials which can be easily referenced and reviewed.
Future journalists trained in fact-checking
In addition to producing high-quality journalism, another key part of our mission is training current and future journalists. We aim to instill our obsession with accuracy in them, too.
In 2016 we began working with The Observatory, a student fact-checking outlet founded by Michael Wagner and Lucas Graves, faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication. We assist in fact-checking every story The Observatory publishes.
Adopted May 8, 2018, by the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism Board of Directors
The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism’s newsroom guidelines on use of unnamed sources are based on the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics, approved in 1996, and adopted in full by the Center in 2009; and guidelines publicly shared by The New York Times in July 2016.
The Center’s guidelines on use of unnamed sources:
— Identify sources whenever feasible. The public is entitled to as much information as possible on sources’ reliability.
— Always question sources’ motives before promising anonymity. Clarify conditions attached to any promise made in exchange for information. Keep promises.
— Any use of anonymous sourcing must be specifically approved by a top editor such as the managing editor or executive director.
— Direct quotes from anonymous sources should be used rarely, and only when such quotes are pivotal to the story.
— At least one editor must know the specific identity of any anonymous source. This in no way reflects a lack of trust between editor and reporter; it’s just a regular part of our diligence in this sensitive area. The reporter should routinely offer this information, or the story editor should ask.
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As an administrative law judge hearing worker’s compensation cases in Wisconsin for three decades, Joe Schaeve said he often knew how certain doctors hired by employers and insurance companies would rule even before opening their reports.
“It winds up with the doctor saying ‘Not work related’ or ‘It’s all in his mind,’ ” said Schaeve, who retired in May. “You can almost sense it coming when you spend 30 years reading these reports.”
Schaeve said a few of the experts’ opinions were so predictable that “it’s almost a waste of time to read the report because you know what it’s going to say.”
The opinions came from “independent medical examiners,” or IMEs. These doctors are hired by employers or insurance companies seeking to dispute claims for lost wages, extent of disability, loss of earning capacity and necessity for treatment.
Such claims can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars for severely injured workers and can increase the cost of worker’s compensation insurance for employers. Employers can use IME decisions to deny compensation to injured workers, forcing them to fight for their benefits.
Retired administrative law judge Joe Schaeve says during his 30 years hearing worker’s compensation cases in Wisconsin, the opinions of some independent medical examiners were highly predictable, often finding against injured workers. Credit: Dee J. Hall / Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
In Wisconsin, IMEs do not have to be licensed by the state, so some of them travel from outside the state.
Worker’s compensation is often called the “grand bargain” because it bars employees from suing for workplace injuries with few exceptions. In exchange, employers must pay for lost wages, medical care and any resulting disabilities, regardless of who is at fault for the injury.
But in a few hundred cases each year in Wisconsin, the extent and cause of those injuries is disputed. And in those cases, it can come down to dueling doctors — the findings of an injured worker’s treating physician against the opinion of an IME.
IMEs review medical records and in some cases examine the injured worker. As a judge, when he saw a report from an out-of-state doctor, “my antennae immediately pop up,” Schaeve said. “At first glance, it tells me the insurance company knows — underline knows — they’re going to get a favorable report.”
Some IMEs “fly in on their charter jet from Kentucky or whatever and they see 20 people for 10 to 15 minutes at a time, they dictate their reports on the plane ride back, and they just made $20,000,” said Luke Kingree, an attorney who represents injured workers in Eau Claire and Madison.
Several worker’s compensation attorneys interviewed by the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism mentioned brothers Timothy S. and Thomas J. O’Brien as out-of-state orthopedic doctors who routinely work for insurance companies. Timothy lives in Colorado and Thomas resides in Tennessee. Phone messages, as well as faxes sent to the IME broker for whom they work, were not returned.
Attorney Luke Kingree says there is nothing independent about the doctors hired by employers and insurance companies in worker’s compensation cases. “There are some of these doctors… who will almost never concede that a person was injured during an incident at work or due to their work activities, unless a person literally fell off a building or literally had something fall on them,” Kingree says. “And even then, they might say it’s a temporary condition that has healed up.” Credit: Coburn Dukehart / Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
Both doctors’ findings have at times been rejected by the state Labor and Industry Review Commission, which decides appeals of administrative law judge decisions. In one 2008 case, the commission found Thomas O’Brien’s denial of the cause of a worker’s low back injury “incredible.”
“Dr. O’Brien opined that the sudden and dramatic onset of low back symptoms coincident with the work incident was unrelated to that incident, and was merely a manifestation of the applicant’s pre-existing degenerative disc disease,” the commission wrote. “This opinion is incredible. The applicant was lifting a heavy piece of equipment when he felt and heard a ‘pop’ in his back, and thereafter his low back symptoms worsened and persisted.”
In a 2016 decision, the commission rejected a finding by Timothy O’Brien denying that a worker had suffered a rotator cuff tear when the semi-trailer he was driving jackknifed. O’Brien’s opinion — seconded by another insurance company-hired doctor — contradicted several treating physicians and magnetic resonance imaging. “The … tear, shown in the MRI, provides objective proof of injury,” the commission found, ordering the employer to pay for the recommended shoulder surgery.
Both O’Brien brothers are licensed in the state of Wisconsin. In 2015, Thomas O’Brien was issued a private administrative warning after a complaint was filed against him, according to a state Department of Safety and Professional Services record obtained by the Center. The Tennessee Department of Health lists one $75,000 or more malpractice settlement involving Thomas O’Brien in 2008.
Timothy O’Brien, testifying in 2017 in a Wisconsin case, acknowledged that a fellow member of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons had filed a confidential grievance against him alleging a violation of that group’s standards for performing IMEs. He said the complaint, filed in 2012 or 2013, was “apparently” resolved.
Judge skeptical of IMEs
Schaeve said while he found both injured workers’ doctors and IMEs to be worthy of close scrutiny, he generally found treating physicians to be more reliable reporters of an applicant’s medical condition. That is because most IME reports tend to either support denial of the claim or find “the injured worker is really not as disabled as he claims he is,” Schaeve said.
These IMEs examined patients for as little as three minutes — or not at all, he said. They often found that the injury was pre-existing, or in some cases, that the symptoms were exaggerated or unrelated to a verified work injury or that the worker had already healed.
This 2014 video shows an independent medical examination of patient Peter Wrobleski. Wrobleski says he was injured during mandatory self-defense training in 2011 while employed as a caseworker for Onondaga County, New York.
In recent years, judges in two Nevada cases have barred an IME from testifying because of his alleged “extreme bias” against injured patients that included disagreeing with treating doctors about 95 percent of the time. The neurosurgeon made $1 million a year from insurance companies, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
Schaeve said increasingly, he has seen some IMEs go outside their roles as medical reviewers to aggressively attack the credibility of injured workers.
But even lawyers who are critical of IMEs say employers and insurers should have the right to hire their own experts to evaluate claims.
Eau Claire, Wis., attorney Jeff Klemp says he has handled cases in which clients’ claims for worker’s compensation were denied after a state commission ignored medical evidence from the clients’ doctors and sided with so-called independent medical examiners hired by employers or their insurers. Credit: Courtesy of Jeff Klemp
“The concept of an IME is a good concept,” said Jeff Klemp, an Eau Claire attorney who represents injured workers. “The Legislature created this rule that insurance companies can send an injured employee to a doctor of their choosing. And on its face, you think that’s a good idea, let the insurance company get an objective evaluation here.”
For some physicians, conducting such examinations is their main line of work.
In a 2012 deposition, Milwaukee-area IME neurologist Dr. Marc Novom said he conducted three to six IME exams a week at $1,000 to $1,500 each, charging thousands more for depositions.
In a separate case, Novom confirmed that 80 to 90 percent of his income came from IME work; in 2012, he estimated that income at least $450,000 a year. As part of a lawsuit over a vehicle crash, a Dane County judge ordered two insurance companies to turn over records about Novom’s practice. According to those records, Novom performed 941 IME exams between 2011 and 2015.
A woman answering the phone at Novom’s office said he is on vacation until May but that she would pass along a message seeking comment.
Klemp said such a financial incentive can color a physician’s evaluation of an injured worker.
“Every business has to turn a profit, doesn’t it? Now if the business was turning out IME reports that consistently favored employees or agreed with the employee’s treating physicians, that business would not survive very long,” Klemp said.
Bias on both sides
Recently retired Milwaukee attorney Bill Sachse, who represented insurance companies and employers, said he looked for credible physicians to “provide the best record in favor of our client.” Some of them, including the O’Briens, are based out of state.
“I’m trying to win the case, so I’m trying to find a doctor who will do a thorough review of the case, which means talking to the employee when he or she goes in for the exam and looks at all the other information provided to the doctor — all medical records and any other information that I think might be relevant to the issue at hand,” Sachse said.
He said IMEs typically make $1,500 to $2,500 for examining a worker and evaluating a case. But Sachse said some treating physicians also may have a financial incentive.
Wisconsin is among just six states where there are no set fees for treating patients under worker’s compensation. Powerful business interests are pushing lawmakers to create limits for such cases.
Sachse said he had a recent case in which a surgeon would have earned $200,000 under worker’s compensation to repair a work-related injury. But if it were found not to be work related, the charge would be $50,000.
“So the doctor offering the opinion favorable to the employee had $150,000 on the line in that case,” Sachse said. “Don’t you think he might have been biased? I think so.”
Samuel D. Hodge Jr., a professor of law and anatomy at Temple University in Philadelphia, said he sees bias on both sides. Hodge has studied the rights and responsibilities of IMEs toward patients across the country.
Temple University law and anatomy professor Samuel D. Hodge Jr. has studied independent medical examiners, who are often hired by insurance companies or employers to defend against worker’s compensation claims. Hodge says he sees bias on both sides — doctors advocating for injured workers and IMEs advocating for their clients. Credit: Courtesy of Samuel Hodge
Hodge noted some attorneys for injured workers hire the same physicians over and over to treat their clients. And because of their training, doctors tend to believe their patients, Hodge said.
However, Schaeve, the retired judge, said he saw little bias by treating physicians.
“It’s been my experience … the very vast majority of those office notes and opinions are generally reliable and honest whereby I don’t detect any true advocacy on behalf of the treating doctor,” he said.
There is at least one important difference between the doctors on each side of these cases.
Doctors who treat patients have an ethical obligation to give competent care. But Wisconsin is among the many states where an IME is not considered part of a doctor-patient relationship, which means applicants cannot sue IMEs for medical malpractice if they misdiagnose an injury or illness.
“There are a number of cases in a variety of states, where people have gone in and they have a cancerous lesion and the doctor doesn’t tell them anything about it because that’s not the purpose of their IME. They’re just to see if the person can go back to work,” Hodge said.
Despite — or perhaps because of — what he perceives as biases on both sides, Hodge believes the adversarial system of dueling experts largely works because “I don’t know how else you would do it.”
“I line up my expert for the plaintiff, you line up your experts for the defendant, and then it becomes a battle of the experts. Who is the jury is going to believe?” Hodge said. “It all becomes a credibility question. It’s no different from who ran the red light? Who do you believe?”
Amie Peters, president of the Workers’ Injury Law & Advocacy Group, says the term “independent medical examiner” can fool injured workers into accepting a “biased” diagnosis and dissuade them from pushing for worker’s compensation benefits. Credit: Workers’ Injury Law & Advocacy Group
The president of the New Hampshire-based Workers’ Injury Law & Advocacy Group said use of the term independent medical examiners can fool workers into accepting “biased” diagnoses and dissuade them from pursuing benefits to which they are entitled.
“They don’t go hire an attorney who knows the system … and then these workers are stuck in a system where they think because of an artificial name that they’re getting an independent medical examination when really it’s a doctor chosen by the defense,” said Amie Peters, president of WILG, which advocates for injured workers. “The concern is a worker just won’t pursue their rights.”
Some states have moved away from the term “independent medical examination.” In Mississippi, for example, it is called an employer medical examination. Delaware has banned use of the term in worker’s compensation cases when the physician is hired by an insurance company or employer. Violators are subject to a $500 fine.
Attorney Kingree has worked on both sides — earlier in his career representing employers and insurance companies and now representing only injured workers.
“There’s nothing independent about those doctors,” Kingree said. “A more appropriate name is defense medical examination or adverse medical examination.”
Employer-paid doctors carry weight
When Richard Decker was injured in 2010, his employer, Kohler Co., where he had worked for 36 years, required him to be seen by two doctors it paid, including Novom. Decker was knocked unconscious by a toilet weighing at least 80 pounds. More than seven years later, he remains unemployed, relying on Social Security Disability Insurance — less than half of his former salary.
While four treating physicians said they believed Decker was fully and permanently disabled, both Kohler-paid doctors concluded that the shooting pains, memory loss, stuttering, frequent crying, headaches and severe cramps that Decker reported were mostly in his head.
Richard Decker worked for more than 35 years for Kohler Co. before a brain injury sustained at work in 2010 forced him to stop working. Decker, seen here with his wife, Cathy, has problems with short-term memory and severe pain. Kohler has refused to provide him with long-term support under worker’s compensation for the injury, and a state commission sided with the company. Credit: Alexandra Hall / WPR/Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
Novom chalked up the Sheboygan County man’s symptoms to concern over the health of his wife, who had undergone a kidney transplant; depression; post-traumatic stress disorder and “poor academic performance and psychosocial deprivation growing up in a rural farm area.”
Novom used similar reasoning for a woman with a head injury from a work-related car crash. The woman reported “stabbing sensations in her head,” and problems with memory and mental slowness years after the 2006 injury.
Novom — contradicting three of the woman’s doctors and one physician hired by her employer — opined that the symptoms were not related to the crash but likely reflected an “undercurrent of psychosocial unrest” caused in part by the death of her husband in 2012. The LIRC rejected that opinion in its 2015 decision.
“The commission is not persuaded by (Novom’s) premise that the applicant is a ‘particularly fragile and emotionally wounded individual,’ ” the panel wrote. “That observation does not square with the applicant’s actual work history.”
Decker’s wife, Cathy, said she argued with Novom during one of the exams over what she believed was an inadequate assessment of Richard’s myriad symptoms.
“He basically said that (Richard’s) inability to remember how to write some things was because he was not very smart,” she said. “Pretty much called him stupid.”
Administrative Law Judge Sherman C. Mitchell sided with Decker and his doctors. But the LIRC overturned Mitchell, finding in its 2016 decision that Novom and another IME were more credible.
Sachse represented Kohler. He declined to discuss the case except to say that the outcome was “fair” and that during a couple of decades working with Novom, he found the neurologist to be “very professional, completely thorough.”
OSHA: Worker’s comp system ‘broken’
There are questions about whether the “grand bargain” of worker’s compensation continues to hold. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration concluded in a 2015 report that the worker’s compensation system is “broken,” with employers and insurers covering just 21 percent of the cost of the estimated 3 million serious workplace injuries and illnesses a year.
About half of the cost is borne by the injured workers, OSHA found — plus a 15 percent decrease in future earnings — while taxpayers, through programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, paid at least 16 percent of the cost.
A recent story by the Center featuring the Deckers found other problems. Although Wisconsin’s system is one of the oldest and most respected, the Center found injured workers have faced a harder time qualifying for worker’s compensation in front of Gov. Scott Walker’s Labor and Industry Review Commission.
Schaeve said he and the political appointees on the LIRC sometimes reached opposite conclusions when it came to the extent and cause of a worker’s injury.
“There are times where I wondered, did we read the same set of medical evidence?” Schaeve said. “Or did we — LIRC and I — look at all the same facts and evidence in the case? Because it looks like all the evidence and the outcome they came out with is foreign to what I came out with.”
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Alexandra Hall
Alexandra Hall joined the Center in January 2017 as the second Wisconsin Public Radio Mike Simonson Memorial Investigative Reporting Fellow. Hall focused on creating investigative stories that were broadcast on WPR and distributed by the Center. She speaks fluent Spanish and English. She is now a reporter at KQED public media in California.
Hall, a co-founder of the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, joined the staff as managing editor in June 2015. She worked at the Wisconsin State Journal for 24 years as an editor and reporter focusing on projects and investigations. Previously she was a reporter for eight years at The Arizona Republic in Phoenix, where she covered city government, schools and the environment. During her 35-year journalism career, Hall has won more than three dozen local, state and national awards for her work, and is a member of Investigative Reporters and Editors. She is based in Madison, Wisconsin. She can be reached at dhall@wisconsinwatch.org