Peoples Telephone Co Inc v. Richard J. Garrity, Jr ( 1996 )

COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA
Present: Judges Baker, Bray and Overton
Argued at Norfolk, Virginia
PEOPLES TELEPHONE COMPANY, INC. and
UNITED STATES FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY
MEMORANDUM OPINION * BY
v. Record No. 1483-95-1 JUDGE NELSON T. OVERTON
JANUARY 30, 1996
RICHARD JOSEPH GARRITY, JR.
FROM THE VIRGINIA WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION
William C. Walker (Donna White Kearney; Taylor &
Walker, P.C.), for appellants.
Richard Joseph Garrity, Jr., pro se.
Peoples Telephone Company, employer, contends on appeal that
the Workers' Compensation Commission erred in awarding Richard
Garrity temporary total disability benefits. Because we find
insufficient evidence in the record to support the commission's
finding that Garrity's injury arose out of his employment, we
reverse the commission.
The claimant was a telephone repairer for the employer. On
January 28, 1994, he was sitting at a standard office desk when
he had to bend over to pick up something that had fallen from his
desk. Garrity could not remember what the item was, nor could he
recall whether he first felt pain upon bending over or after he
had grabbed the object.
An injury is compensable when it arises out of and in the
*
Pursuant to Code § 17-116.010 this opinion is not
designated for publication.
course of the employment of the claimant. County of Chesterfield
v. Johnson, 237 Va. 180, 183, 376 S.E.2d 73, 74 (1989); see Code
§ 65.2-101. An accident arises out of the employment when a
causal connection exists between the claimant's injury and the
conditions under which the employer requires the work to be
performed. United Parcel Serv. v. Fetterman, 230 Va. 257, 258,
336 S.E.2d 892, 893 (1985). The causative danger must be
peculiar to the work and incidental to the character of the
business. If the injury stemmed from a hazard to which the
employee would have been equally exposed apart from the
employment, no compensation is warranted. Id.
Garrity injured his back while engaged in the type of normal
motion that he would perform in his daily life outside the work
environment. The record from the deputy commissioner's hearing
demonstrates no unusual or awkward movement. The risk of injury
was not heightened by the employment.
Having found no credible evidence to support a finding that
Garrity's injury arose out of his employment, we reverse the
commission's award of benefits.
Reversed and final judgment.
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