John P. Allee v. Ile Wayne Blake, etc.

COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA
Present: Judges Baker, Elder and Fitzpatrick
JOHN P. ALLEE
v. Record No. 1960-96-4 MEMORANDUM OPINION *
PER CURIAM
ILE WAYNE BLAKE, INC. T/A JANUARY 14, 1997
YESTERDAYS
AND
UNINSURED EMPLOYER'S FUND
FROM THE VIRGINIA WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION
(John P. Allee, pro se, on brief).
(James S. Gilmore, III, Attorney General;
John J. Beall, Jr., Senior Assistant Attorney
General; Paul S. Stahl, Assistant Attorney
General, on brief), for appellee Uninsured
Employer's Fund.
No brief for appellee Ile Wayne Blake, Inc.
t/a Yesterdays.
John P. Allee (claimant) contends that the Workers'
Compensation Commission (commission) erred in finding that he
failed to prove that his current low back pain and groin symptoms
and resulting disability were causally related to his compensable
December 13, 1993 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. 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.
*
Pursuant to Code § 17-116.010 this opinion is not
designated for publication.
Mullins, 10 Va. App. 211, 212, 390 S.E.2d 788, 788 (1990).
"General principles of workman's compensation law provide that
'[i]n an application for review of any award on the ground of
change in condition, the burden is on the party alleging such
change to prove his allegations by a preponderance of the
evidence.'" Great Atl. & Pac. Tea Co. v. Bateman, 4 Va. App.
459, 464, 359 S.E.2d 98, 101 (1987) (quoting Pilot Freight
Carriers, Inc. v. Reeves, 1 Va. App. 435, 438-39, 339 S.E.2d 570,
572 (1986)). Unless we can say as a matter of law that
claimant's evidence sustained his burden of proof, the
commission's findings are binding and conclusive upon us. Tomko
v. Michael's Plastering Co., 210 Va. 697, 699, 173 S.E.2d 833,
835 (1970).
Claimant's treating physicians, Drs. C. Bernard Cross and
W. Paul Harris, concluded that claimant's current symptoms were
of unknown etiology. Absent medical evidence linking claimant's
current symptoms to his compensable injury by accident, we cannot
find as a matter of law that his evidence sustained his burden of
proof. Accordingly, we affirm the commission's decision.
Affirmed.
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