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Bassett-Walker Inc. v. Wyatt3/4/1997
MEMORANDUM OPINION *
Argued at Salem, Virginia
FROM THE VIRGINIA WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION
Bassett-Walker, Inc. appeals the decision of the commission awarding benefits to Shirley Jean Wyatt. Bassett-Walker contends that: (1) the commission erred in concluding that Wyatt's injury arose out of her employment; (2) the evidence was insufficient to prove that Wyatt's knee injury was caused by her working conditions; and (3) Wyatt's knee injury is not compensable as a matter of law because it was due to cumulative trauma caused by repetitive squatting. Holding that Wyatt's injury did not arise out of her employment, we reverse.
Wyatt is employed by Bassett-Walker, Inc. as a knitter, with duties which include operating a yarn machine. Wyatt's position requires that she feed yarn into the machine at a position of two inches above the floor. In order to service the machine at this position, Wyatt squats down approximately 200 times during her typical twelve hour shift.
On March 13, 1995, while squatting toward the floor, Wyatt heard a pop and felt a tearing sensation in her left knee. Wyatt was bending down to the floor and had not fully obtained a squatting position when she felt the pop. Wyatt testified that she had nothing in her hands while squatting and that she bent over in a normal manner, in an unobstructed work area. When Wyatt tried to stand up, she was unable to straighten her left leg. Her injury was diagnosed as a torn medial meniscus, and Wyatt underwent arthroscopic surgery to correct the injury.
In order for Wyatt's workplace injury to be compensable, the injury must have "aris out of" the claimant's employment. Code § 65.2-300. To arise out of the employment, "the conditions of the workplace or some significant work-related exertion must have caused the injury," Plumb Rite Plumbing Serv. v. Barbour, 8 Va. App. 482, 484, 382 S.E.2d 305, 306 (1989), it is not enough that the injury occurred on the job . Grove v. Allied Signal, Inc., 15 Va. App. 17, 421 S.E.2d 32 (1992).
Here, Wyatt was injured while engaged in an activity that is required and carried out in everyday life in many circumstances. In her own words, Wyatt described the squat as normal, and of the type "you would make if you had to bend to pick up something at home, pick up around the house or whatever." Wyatt was not holding anything at the time of the squat and conducted the motion in an unobstructed area. Where, as here, there was no significant exertion, the action of squatting involved no awkward position, and no condition peculiar to the workplace caused the injury, the injury cannot be said to have "aris out of" the employment. Accordingly, we hold that Wyatt's injury did not arise out of her employment, and therefore, it is non-compensable under Code § 65.2-300.
The commission's finding that it was the duration and repetition of the squats that caused claimant's injury is unsupported by the record. No medical evidence was introduced identifying or supporting the theory that Wyatt's repeated squatting caused her injury. Further, assuming, arguendo, that the record did support a finding that Wyatt's injury was a result of repetitive squatting, such an injury would be noncompensable as a matter of law. Injuries caused by repetitive motion or cumulative trauma are not compensable under the Workers' Compensation Act. Stenrich Group v. Jemmott, 251 Va. 186, 467 S.E.2d 795 (1996).
Holding that Wyatt's injury did not arise out of her employment, we reverse.
Reversed.
Elder, J., Dissenting.
I respectfully Dissent. The evidence established that on March 13, 1995, while squatti
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