COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA
Present: Chief Judge Fitzpatrick, Judge Bumgardner and
Senior Judge Hodges
HAROLD H. LOYD
MEMORANDUM OPINION*
v. Record No. 1876-00-4 PER CURIAM
DECEMBER 28, 2000
RYDER INTEGRATED LOGISTICS
FROM THE VIRGINIA WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION
(Harold H. Loyd, pro se, on briefs).
(Alan D. Sundburg; Friedlander, Misler,
Sloan, Kletzkin & Ochsman, PLLC, on brief),
for appellee.
Harold H. Loyd (claimant) contends that the Workers'
Compensation Commission erred in finding that he failed to prove
that his lumbar condition was causally related to his October 9,
1996 compensable injury by accident. Upon reviewing the record
and the briefs of the parties, 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).
Unless we can say as a matter of law that claimant's evidence
* Pursuant to Code § 17.1-413, this opinion is not
designated for publication.
sustained his burden of proof, the commission's findings are
binding and conclusive upon us. See Tomko v. Michael's
Plastering Co., 210 Va. 697, 699, 173 S.E.2d 833, 835 (1970).
In holding "that the evidence does not preponderate in
proving the lumbar injury for which the claimant began treatment
in October 1997 was caused by the October 9, 1996, accident,"
the commission found as follows:
The claimant testified that after the doors
fell on him, he experienced no symptoms of
pain. Later, while stretching for a carton,
he felt mid-back pain. In the evening, his
low back began to bother him. The claimant
did not seek treatment for this pain until
December 1996 at which time it was reported
he had pain in the thoracic region. The
medical records report no history of a work
accident and the claimant testified that he
did not mention the work accident to his
doctors. None of the doctors linked the
claimant's back problems to the incident he
described when the doors fell on him. One
doctor, Dr. [Neil] Kahanovitz, linked the
claimant's pain to a "lifting incident" in
October 1996. Dr. [Donald G.] Hope, whom
the claimant testified he told about the
work accident, noted the claimant's "long
and progressive history of back pain" and
opined that no "particular work-related
incident precipitated this pain."
The commission's findings are amply supported by the
record. In light of claimant's testimony and the lack of any
persuasive medical evidence establishing a causal connection
between claimant's lumbar condition and his October 9, 1996
injury by accident, we cannot find as a matter of law that
claimant's evidence sustained his burden of proof.
- 2 -
For these reasons, we affirm the commission's decision.
Affirmed.
- 3 -