Advanced Lock & Safe Inc. etal v. Robert S. Heidorn ( 1996 )

COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA
Present: Judges Baker, Annunziata, and Overton
Argued at Alexandria, Virginia
ADVANCED LOCK AND SAFE, INC. and
NATIONWIDE MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY
v. Record No. 2467-94-4 MEMORANDUM OPINION * BY
JUDGE NELSON T. OVERTON
ROBERT S. HEIDORN JANUARY 11, 1996
FROM THE VIRGINIA WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION
Edward H. Grove, III (Brault, Palmer, Grove,
Zimmerman, White & Mims, on brief), for
appellants.
Peter M. Sweeny (Peter M. Sweeny & Associates, on
brief), for appellee.
Advanced Lock and Safe, employer, and Nationwide Mutual
Insurance Company, insurer, appeal the decision of the commission
to award Robert Heidorn benefits for a work-related injury by
accident. Employer contends that the injury did not arise out of
Heidorn's employment. We affirm the commission's award.
Robert Heidorn was employed as a locksmith, replacing the
locks on interior office doors. Because of his height, he "got
down on his knees" on the floor beside each door instead of
bending over to work on it. On the sixth or seventh door,
Heidorn "bent down [and] had a pressure on my right knee and
turned just a little bit." He felt a pain shoot through it just
before his knees touched the ground. His treating physician
*
Pursuant to Code § 17-116.010 this opinion is not
designated for publication.
later opined that the cartilage in his knee had been torn.
An accident arises out of the employment when a causal
connection exists between the injury and the conditions under
which the employer requires the work to be performed. County of
Chesterfield v. Johnson, 237 Va. 180, 183, 376 S.E.2d 73, 75
(1989). An employee's need to work in a bent over position and
to extract himself from that position presents a hazard to which
the employee would not otherwise be exposed. Richard E. Brown,
Inc. v. Caporaletti, 12 Va. App. 242, 245, 402 S.E.2d 709, 711
(1991). A contortion of the body necessitated by the employee's
work is risk created by the workplace. First Fed. Sav. & Loan v.
Gryder, 9 Va. App. 60, 65, 383 S.E.2d 755, 759 (1989). The
injury need not be caused by an extraordinary occurrence in or
about the work performed, nor must the precipitating movement be
unusual or require exertion. Grove v. Allied Signal, Inc., 15
Va. App. 17, 22, 421 S.E.2d 32, 35 (1992).
The commission found that Heidorn's injury was caused by
kneeling down. It further found that his job required him to
make that specific movement. We find credible evidence in the
record to support this finding, and affirm the award of the
commission.
Affirmed.
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