Wampler-Longacre, Inc. v. Betty D. Hill

COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA

Present: Chief Judge Moon, Senior Judges Cole and Duff

WAMPLER-LONGACRE, INC. AND PACIFIC EMPLOYERS INSURANCE COMPANY MEMORANDUM OPINION * v. Record No. 1805-95-3 PER CURIAM DECEMBER 12, 1995 BETTY D. HILL

FROM THE VIRGINIA WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION (Cathleen P. Welsh; Wharton, Aldhizer & Weaver, on brief), for appellants.

(A. Thomas Lane, Jr., on brief), for appellee.

Wampler-Longacre, Inc. and its insurer (hereinafter collectively referred to as "employer") contend that the Workers' Compensation Commission erred in finding that Betty D. Hill's ("claimant") bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome constituted a "disease". 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.

The facts are not in dispute. Claimant's work for employer required repetitive use of her hands. In April 1994, Dr. G. Edward Chappell, Jr., an orthopedic surgeon, diagnosed claimant as suffering from bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome related to her

work. The parties stipulated that claimant had no known exposure * Pursuant to Code § 17-116.010 this opinion is not designated for publication.

to the causes of carpal tunnel syndrome outside of her employment.

We recently held in Perdue Farms, Inc. v. McCutchan, 21 Va. App. 65, 69, 461 S.E.2d 431, 433 (1995), that the general medical definition of carpal tunnel syndrome places it within the definition of disease set forth in Piedmont Mfg. Co. v. East, 17 Va. App. 499, 503, 438 S.E.2d 769, 772 (1993). As in Perdue, Hill's condition did not present as an obvious, sudden, mechanical or structural change in her body. Based upon our

holding in Perdue and upon Dr. Chappell's diagnosis, we conclude that credible evidence supports the commission's finding that

claimant's carpal tunnel syndrome is a condition characterized as a "disease" within the meaning of the Workers' Compensation Act.

Accordingly, we affirm the commission's decision.

Affirmed.