COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA
Present: Judges Agee, Annunziata and Senior Judge Coleman
FOOD LION, INC. AND
RISK MANAGEMENT SERVICES, INC.
MEMORANDUM OPINION*
v. Record No. 1734-01-1 PER CURIAM
NOVEMBER 13, 2001
DOUGLAS MCARTHUR SEALS, JR.
FROM THE VIRGINIA WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION
(Tenley A. Carroll-Seli; Pierce & Howard,
P.C., on brief), for appellants.
No brief for appellee.
Food Lion, Inc. and its insurer (hereinafter referred to as
"employer") contend that the Workers’ Compensation Commission
erred in finding that Douglas McArthur Seals, Jr. (claimant)
proved that he sustained an injury by accident arising out of
his employment on June 15, 2000. Upon reviewing the record and
opening brief, we conclude that this appeal is without merit.
Accordingly, we summarily affirm the commission’s decision. See
Rule 5A:27.
On appeal, we view the evidence in the light most favorable
to the prevailing party below. R.G. Moore Bldg. Corp. v.
Mullins, 10 Va. App. 211, 212, 390 S.E.2d 788, 788 (1990).
"Whether an injury arises out of the employment is a mixed
* Pursuant to Code § 17.1-413, this opinion is not
designated for publication.
question of law and fact and is reviewable by the appellate
court." Plumb Rite Plumbing Serv. v. Barbour, 8 Va. App. 482,
483, 382 S.E.2d 305, 305 (1989). "The phrase arising 'out of'
refers to the origin or cause of the injury." County of
Chesterfield v. Johnson, 237 Va. 180, 183, 376 S.E.2d 73, 74
(1989). To prevail, claimant must "show that the conditions of
the workplace or that some significant work related exertion
caused the injury." Plumb Rite, 8 Va. App. at 484, 382 S.E.2d
at 306.
In ruling that claimant met his burden of proof, the
commission found as follows:
[C]laimant sustained injury when he
unexpectedly was required to catch a
shoplifter. The claimant's knee gave out as
he turned a corner trying to catch a
shoplifter. He testified that he started
walking slowly and then in trying to speed
up to get to the door quickly, he took two
steps, turned the corner, trying to avoid
the corner of the register, when he felt his
knee pop and give way. The Deputy
Commissioner found the claimant credible and
resolved any discrepancies in the record in
his favor. We generally defer to a Deputy
Commissioner's credibility determinations
regarding witnesses the deputy observed
first hand and from whom impressions were
formed.
The record establishes that the
claimant was injured as he changed his gait
in an effort to move more quickly. He
testified this action, planting his foot,
was more "forceful" than mere walking. That
action taken and movement made, done to
apprehend suspected shoplifters, is the
"critical link" between the accident and the
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employment. We agree with the Deputy
Commissioner that the injury arose out of
the employment.
Claimant's testimony constitutes credible evidence to
support the commission's factual findings. Claimant stated that
when he planted his foot and tried to push off to run across the
front of the store to catch the shoplifter, his knee popped and
gave way. Claimant was not simply walking and his knee gave
way. Rather, the commission could reasonably infer from the
evidence that claimant's employment-related need to hurry to
catch the shoplifters resulted in his knee injury. "Where
reasonable inferences may be drawn from the evidence in support
of the commission's factual findings, they will not be disturbed
by this Court on appeal." Hawks v. Henrico County Sch. Bd., 7
Va. App. 398, 404, 374 S.E.2d 695, 698 (1988). Here, the
evidence supported an inference that the conditions of the
workplace either caused or contributed to the claimant's injury.
Accordingly, we affirm the commission's decision.
Affirmed.
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