Home Improvement Specialist v. Daniel Lee Brown

COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA Present: Chief Judge Felton, Judge Petty and Senior Judge Coleman Argued at Salem, Virginia HOME IMPROVEMENT SPECIALIST AND WCAMC CONTRACTOR’S GROUP SELF-INSURANCE ASSOCIATION MEMORANDUM OPINION* BY v. Record No. 0124-06-3 JUDGE WILLIAM G. PETTY OCTOBER 17, 2006 DANIEL LEE BROWN FROM THE VIRGINIA WORKERS’ COMPENSATION COMMISSION Richard A. Hobson for appellants. (A. Thomas Lane, Jr., on brief), for appellee. Appellee submitting on brief. The Court of Appeals has appellate jurisdiction over final decisions of the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission and interlocutory orders involving injunctions or “adjudicating the principles of a cause.” Code § 17.1-405. Appellants challenge a discovery order issued by the commission. For the reasons stated in Jewell Ridge Coal Corp. v. Henderson, 229 Va. 266, 329 S.E.2d 48 (1985), and Green v. Keil Plumbing & Heating, Inc., 42 Va. App. 539, 593 S.E.2d 525 (2004), we hold the discovery order is not a final order from which an appeal may be taken. Furthermore, the order does not adjudicate the principles of a cause. The order is interlocutory, is not determinative of the controversy, and does not address the merits of the case. See, e.g., Polumbo v. Polumbo, 13 Va. App. 306, 411 S.E.2d 229 (1991). Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal without prejudice. Dismissed. * Pursuant to Code § 17.1-413, this opinion is not designated for publication.