COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA<\/p>\n
Present: Judges Willis, Bray and Annunziata
\nArgued at Alexandria, Virginia<\/p>\n
ALEXANDRIA HOSPITAL AND
\n INOVA HEALTH SYSTEM FOUNDATION, INC.
\n MEMORANDUM OPINION* BY
\nv. Record No. 0059-02-4 JUDGE JERE M. H. WILLIS, JR.
\n AUGUST 6, 2002
\nMEENA MUNJAL<\/p>\n
FROM THE VIRGINIA WORKERS’ COMPENSATION COMMISSION<\/p>\n
Eric J. Berghold (McCandlish & Lillard, P.C.,
\non brief), for appellants.<\/p>\n
No brief or argument for appellee.<\/p>\n
* Pursuant to Code ? 17.1-413, this opinion is not
\ndesignated for publication.
\n Alexandria Hospital and INOVA Health System
\nFoundation, Inc. (“employer”) appeal a decision of the Workers’
\nCompensation Commission awarding Meena Munjal benefits for
\ninjuries sustained as a result of a fall while at work. The
\nemployer contends (1) that Munjal’s injury by accident did not
\narise out of her employment; and (2) that her back was not
\ninjured in the accident. We affirm the commission’s decision.
\n On appeal, “[d]ecisions of the commission as to questions
\nof fact, if supported by credible evidence, are conclusive and
\nbinding on this Court.” Manassas Ice & Fuel Co. v. Federated
\nMutual Ins. Co., 13 Va. App. 227, 229, 409 S.E.2d 824, 826<\/p>\n
(1991). “The fact that contrary evidence may be found in the
\nrecord is of no consequence if credible evidence supports the
\ncommission’s finding.” Id. We view the evidence in the light
\nmost favorable to the prevailing party below. Creedle Sales Co.
\nv. Edmonds, 24 Va. App. 24, 26, 480 S.E.2d 123, 124 (1997).
\nHowever, “[t]his Court is not bound by the legal determinations
\nmade by the commission.” Robinson v. Salvation Army, 20
\nVa. App. 570, 572, 459 S.E.2d 103, 104 (1995).
\nI. BACKGROUND
\n On May 17, 2000, Munjal, a registered nurse, was injured at
\nher place of employment, INOVA Alexandria Hospital. Munjal and
\nseveral other nurses were sitting around a table in a conference
\nroom listening to recorded medical reports. Their chairs were
\nclose together. Some of the chairs, including Munjal’s, were on
\nrollers. They were unbalanced, wobbled, and moved from side to
\nside.
\n While listening to the reports, Munjal stood up from her
\nchair, leaned forward, and reached for the cardex. Having
\nobtained the cardex, she attempted to sit back in her chair.
\nHowever, the chair had moved back and Munjal fell to the floor.
\nShe hit her left forearm and the left side of her neck and head
\non the armrest of the chair. The right side of her hip struck
\nthe floor.<\/p>\n
Following the incident, Munjal filled out an Employee
\nOccurrence Report, noting injuries to her left head, neck, and
\n – 2 –<\/p>\n
right hip. She reported no back injury. Thereafter, she sought
\ntreatment in the emergency room. The emergency room medical
\nrecords reported no back injury. They stated there was “no
\nc[omplaint]\/o[f] back pain.” Munjal also filled out a Virginia
\nWorkers’ Compensation Commission Form 5 (“VWC Form 5”). On the
\nform she noted her injuries, making no mention of back pain or a
\nback injury.
\n On June 1, 2000, Munjal was seen by Dr. Michael Leonidov.
\nHis notes state that she “[f]ell at work on 5\/17. Awoke the
\nnext day with some back pain. Was seen in the ER the same day
\nof the incident and just given Motrin; did not have the back
\npain at that time.” Dr. Leonidov recommended that x-rays be
\ntaken, but Munjal refused because she did not want to take off
\nfrom work. Her back pain cleared up and completely resolved by
\nJune, 2000.
\n The deputy commissioner held:
\n[T]he evidence preponderates in proving that
\nthe accident was caused by a risk of the
\nemployment. It is . . . the claimant’s
\ncontention that she fell because after
\nleaning forward to reach for a Kardex the
\nchair on which she had been seated moved
\nsince it was unstable. This would certainly
\nconstitute a risk of the employment.
\nMoreover, given the claimant’s testimony
\nthat the chairs were very close together
\nwith no space between them, it hardly seems
\nlikely that she simply missed the chair in
\nsitting back.<\/p>\n
The full commission affirmed the deputy’s finding of causation,
\nholding:
\n – 3 –<\/p>\n[T]he claimant . . . sustained injuries when
\nshe missed a chair that was unstable and had
\nmoved, while attempting to sit at a
\nconference table after leaning over to reach
\nfor a file. The claimant’s action in
\nleaning forward to reach over the conference
\ntable, and then moving backward in
\nanticipation that her seat would be in the
\nsame position as she left it, involved an
\nawkward position caused by the environmental
\nfactors of the seating area. Thus, the
\nawkward position caused by the conditions of
\nthe claimant’s work provides the requisite
\ncritical link between the employment and the
\ninjury, and we find that her injury arose
\nout of her employment.
\n We read the “awkward position” found by the commission to
\ndescribe not a physical contortion of Munjal’s body, but rather
\nan awkward and potentially dangerous situation created by the
\nclose seating of the nurses in unstable moveable chairs, under
\ncircumstances requiring movement in and out of those chairs.
\nThe record supports the commission’s determination.
\nII. ANALYSIS
\n The employer first contends that the commission erred in
\nfinding that Munjal’s accident arose out of her employment. We
\ndisagree.
\nAn injury arises out of the employment when
\nthere is apparent to the rational mind upon
\nconsideration of all the circumstances, a
\ncausal connection between the conditions
\nunder which the work is required to be
\nperformed and the resulting injury. . . .
\nBut it excludes an injury which cannot
\nfairly be traced to the employment as a
\ncontributing proximate cause and which comes
\nfrom a hazard to which the workman would
\nhave been equally exposed apart from the
\nemployment. The causative danger must be<\/p>\n
– 4 –<\/p>\n
peculiar to the work and not common to the
\nneighborhood. It must be incidental to the
\ncharacter of the business and not
\nindependent of the relation of master and
\nservant.
\nBaggett Transp. Co. v. Dillon, 219 Va. 633, 637-38, 248 S.E.2d
\n819, 822 (1978).
\n Munjal testified that the chairs around the table,
\nincluding the one in which she sat, were close together and were
\non rollers, some of which were unbalanced, wobbled, and moved
\nfrom side to side. In performing her duties, she stood up from
\nher chair, leaned forward, and reached for the cardex. When she
\nattempted to sit back in her chair, it had moved. Consequently,
\nshe fell to the floor. The requirement of close seating in
\nunstable, moveable chairs created an awkward and unstable
\ncondition, causing Munjal’s injury. Thus, her injury arose out
\nof her employment.<\/p>\n
The employer next contends that no contemporaneous evidence
\nsupports the finding that Munjal injured her back in the
\naccident. “While it is true that a claimant must show an
\nidentifiable incident that occurs at some reasonably definite
\ntime, it is not necessary in establishing causation that the
\npain or other physical manifestation of injury be
\ncontemporaneous with the incident in employment to prove that
\nthe injury arose out of the employment.” Morris v. Morris, 4
\nVa. App. 193, 200, 355 S.E.2d 892, 896 (1987), rev’d on other
\ngrounds, 238 Va. 578, 385 S.E.2d 858 (1989). The record in this
\n – 5 –<\/p>\n
case supports the commission’s finding that Munjal’s injury was
\ncaused by the fall while attempting to return to her chair.
\nThus, the cause of her injury was an “identifiable incident or
\nsudden precipitating event” that resulted in an obvious “sudden
\nmechanical or structural change in the body.” See id.
\n Munjal admitted that she did not experience back pain
\nimmediately following the accident. The emergency room records,
\nEmployee Occurrence Report, VWC Form 5, and Dr. Leonidov’s
\nrecords all verify that fact. However, at approximately
\nmidnight or the morning following the accident, she began to
\nexperience back pain. This was noted in Dr. Leonidov’s records
\nfrom her June 1, 2000, examination: “Fell at work on 5\/17.
\nAwoke the next day with some back pain. Was seen in the ER the
\nsame day of the incident and just given Motrin; did not have the
\nback pain at that time.” The Act does not require that a
\nclaimant feel or make a contemporaneous complaint of pain or
\nseek immediate medical treatment. The requirement is that the
\ninjury result from the accident. The evidence supports the
\ncommission’s finding that it did in this case.
\n We affirm the commission’s decision.
\n Affirmed.<\/p>\n
– 6 –<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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