Michael Grabell
Michael Grabell is a senior editor with ProPublica. Grabell has previously written about economic issues, labor, immigration and trade. He is a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist.
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Michael Grabell is a senior editor with ProPublica. Grabell has previously written about economic issues, labor, immigration and trade. He has reported on the ground from more than 35 states, as well as some of the remotest villages in Alaska and Guatemala. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic and The New York Times and on Vice and NPR.
Grabell has won two George Polk awards and has twice been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize — in 2021, as part of a team covering COVID-19, and in 2019, with Ginger Thompson and Topher Sanders, for stories that helped expose the impact of family separation at the border and abuse in immigrant children’s shelters. The latter work also won a Peabody award and was a finalist for the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting.
He previously won the Gerald Loeb Award for business journalism for his investigation into the dismantling of workers’ compensation and an ASNE award for reporting on diversity for his series on the growth of temp work in the economy.
Injured Worker in ProPublica/NPR Story Testifies Before Illinois Legislature
In an eight-hour hearing, Democratic lawmakers challenge governor's proposals to change state's workers' compensation law.
California Bill Would Bar Insurers from Withdrawing Injured Workers' Care
A bill that passed a state Senate committee today would address a problem highlighted in a ProPublica and NPR investigation of problems with new workers' compensation laws.
Alabama Bill Would Increase Workers' Comp Benefits for Amputees
A proposal to nearly triple the maximum compensation for workers who lose a limb follows a ProPublica/NPR story that showed Alabama to have the lowest permanent partial disability benefits in the country.
California Workers’ Comp Law Gets Criticism, Praise at Senate Hearing
Some hearing witnesses say the 2012 reform law had “unintended consequences,” prompting insurers to deny medical care and doctors to leave the system.
California to Insurers: Don’t Use Workers’ Comp Law to Deny Approved Care
Concern over possible misuse of a 2012 workers’ comp law has led to warnings from state labor officials. A state senate committee will hold a hearing on the law Wednesday.
The Fallout of Workers’ Comp ‘Reforms’: 5 Tales of Harm
Injured workers share their stories, revealing the real-life impact of rollbacks that have been spreading across the country.
California Announces Audit of Insurance Company That Took Away Home Health Aide
A top labor official in California challenges our characterization of changes to the state’s workers’ comp system. His department will audit a case spotlighted by us.
OSHA Report Echoes ProPublica and NPR’s Workers’ Comp Findings
Separate investigations into changes in the workers’ compensation system nationwide found that cutbacks were hurting injured workers and their families.