Joe hurt his back several years ago while lifting a refrigerator in the course of his employment as an appliance deliverer. His injuries required surgery followed by several rounds of physical therapy. Eventually, Joe’s doctor released him from care with permanent restrictions and cautioned him to avoid any occupations that involved lifting greater than 25 lbs., otherwise he might reinjure himself.
Recently, while working for a local hardware store, Joe felt a pop in his back while lifting a 40- pound bag of fertilizer into a customer’s trunk. At his workers’ comp hearing, the employer’s lawyer did a good job of reminding Joe of his old injury and getting him to admit he remembered his old doctor’s advice not to lift objects weighing more than 25 lbs. Joe lost his comp case.
Why is that?
Virginia law requires an injured worker to prove his disability results from an ‘injury by accident.’ That term is defined as an identifiable incident that occurs at some reasonably definite point in time, and which brings about an obvious sudden mechanical or structural change in the body. Joe proved that and still lost. This is because Virginia law does not consider injuries occurring under these circumstances to be ‘accidental.’ Rather, they are the expected outcome of engaging in the prohibited activity.