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International Paper Co. v. DeHart5/9/2000
Argued at Salem, Virginia
MEMORANDUM OPINION *
FROM THE VIRGINIA WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION
International Paper Company ("employer") contends the Workers' Compensation Commission ("commission") erred in awarding medical benefits to James H. DeHart ("claimant"). The sole issue is whether credible evidence supports the commission's finding that claimant's injury arose out of his employment. For the following reasons, we affirm.
I.
"On appeal, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the claimant, who prevailed before the commission." Allen & Rocks, Inc. v. Briggs, 28 Va. App. 662, 672, 508 S.E.2d 335, 340 (1998) (citations omitted). "A question raised by conflicting medical opinion is a question of fact." WLR Foods v. Cardosa, 26 Va. App. 220, 230, 494 S.E.2d 147, 152 (1997). "'Decisions of the commission as to questions of fact, if supported by credible evidence, are conclusive and binding on this Court.'" Id. (quoting Manassas Ice & Fuel Co. v. Farrar, 13 Va. App. 227, 229, 409 S.E.2d 824, 826 (1991)). "'The fact that there is contrary evidence in the record is of no consequence.'" Id. (quoting Wagner Enters., Inc. v. Brooks, 12 Va. App. 890, 894, 407 S.E.2d 32, 35 (1991)).
Claimant, a maintenance specialist for employer for over twenty years, is six feet tall and weighs approximately 300 pounds. The evidence established that on July 20, 1998, he was arranging forty-pound water bottles in a storage rack. Claimant removed the empty bottles from the top rack, put them on the floor and moved the full bottles to the top rack. Claimant, working in a "crouched" position, rearranged approximately fifteen bottles, which took five minutes. After completing this activity, claimant "straightened up" from a squatting position and felt a "burning sensation" in his "lower back toward hip area." Claimant described the onset of pain as follows:
Q. . . . Now explain what happened when you started feeling discomfort or pain.
A. Well, when I stood, up, straightened up, that is when I felt the pain.
Q. So it was after you had completed the job ?
A. Right.
Q. Completed what you were doing?
A. Right.
Q. Then you went to stand up from the squatting position?
A. Right.
Claimant was not lifting a water bottle when he experienced the "burning sensation." He testified that the activity of rearranging the water bottles "wasn't difficult at all" and involved "mainly stretching and pulling."
Claimant immediately reported the incident to his supervisor and continued to complete his shift that day. However, for the next three days he was unable to work. Claimant first sought medical treatment from Dr. Frank Pollock, Jr., an orthopedist, on August 19, 1998. At that time, Dr. Pollock noted that claimant's back became symptomatic while "trying to lift a bottle at work." Dr. Pollock diagnosed claimant's condition as "degenerative disk disease" and "bilateral sacroiliitis with degenerative changes in both sacroiliac joints." In his September 16, 1998 medical report, Dr. Pollock opined that claimant's injury was related to the July 20, 1998 incident, stating the following:
I discussed again my belief that his injury was completely work related. He clearly had an acute exacerbation of pain in his sacroiliac joint after his injury which was not present prior to the injury.
Dr. Pollock saw claimant for follow-up treatment on October 14 and November 11, 1998, and thereafter released him to work without restrictions.
Claimant filed a claim for benefits. Followin
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