COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA 

Present: Judges Baker, Elder and Fitzpatrick 

HARDEES OF CHARLOTTESVILLE #3 

AND 

BODDIE NOELL ENTERPRISES, INC. 

 MEMORANDUM OPINION*

v. Record No. 1411-97-2 PER CURIAM 

 NOVEMBER 10, 1997 

BRENDA LEE CRAWFORD 

 FROM THE VIRGINIA WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION 

 (Jimese L. Pendergraft; John S. Nevin; 

Richard E. Garriott, Jr.; Knight, Clarke, 

Dolph & Rapaport, on briefs), for appellants. 

 (Ronald L. Morris; Berry & Early, on brief), 

for appellee. 

 Hardees of Charlottesville #3 and Boddie Noell Enterprises, 

Inc. (employer) contend that the Workers' Compensation Commission 

erred in reversing the deputy commissioner's credibility 

determination and finding that Brenda Lee Crawford (claimant) 

proved that she sustained an injury by accident arising out of 

and in the course of her employment on October 31, 1994. 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. See R.G. Moore Bldg. Corp. v. 

Mullins, 10 Va. App. 211, 212, 390 S.E.2d 788, 788 (1990). "In 

 

 *Pursuant to Code § 17-116.010 this opinion is not 

designated for publication. 
 2 

order to carry [her] burden of proving an 'injury by accident,' a 

claimant must prove that the cause of [her] injury was an 

identifiable incident or sudden precipitating event and that it 

resulted in an obvious sudden mechanical or structural change in 

the body." Morris v. Morris, 238 Va. 578, 589, 385 S.E.2d 858, 

865 (1989). 

 The deputy commissioner was not persuaded that claimant 

sustained a work-related accident on October 31, 1994. The 

deputy commissioner based his conclusion upon the inconsistencies 

between the Time Clock Activity Report and the testimony of 

claimant and Lucy Snow (formerly Tilson), employer's assistant 

manager at the time of the alleged accident. 

 The commission reversed the deputy commissioner and accepted 

claimant's testimony regarding the October 31, 1994 accident. In 

so ruling, the commission found that claimant testified that she 

immediately reported the accident to her manager, Maurice 

Bartley. The commission also considered the medical records, 

which consistently corroborated claimant's testimony regarding 

the accident and her continuing pain. The commission 

"recognize[d] the various inconsistencies evinced by the 

witnesses' testimony particularly regarding the time of the 

incident. However, [it was] more persuaded that the details of 

the incident faded in the minds of the witnesses over two years, 

rather than that the claimant and witnesses fabricated the 

incident." 
 3 

 Employer contends that the commission arbitrarily 

disregarded the deputy commissioner's credibility determination 

and failed to articulate a sufficient basis for its conclusion. 

However, 

 [t]he principle set forth in [Goodyear Tire & 

Rubber Co. v.] Pierce[, 5 Va. App. 374, 383, 

363 S.E.2d 433, 438 (1987),] does not make 

the deputy commissioner's credibility 

findings unreviewable by the commission. 

Rather, it merely requires the commission to 

articulate its reasons for reversing a 

specific credibility determination of the 

deputy commissioner when that determination 

is based upon a recorded observation of 

demeanor or appearance of a witness. In 

short, the rule in Pierce prevents the 

commission from arbitrarily disregarding an 

explicit credibility finding of the deputy 

commissioner. 

Bullion Hollow Enters., Inc. v. Lane, 14 Va. App. 725, 729, 418 

S.E.2d 904, 907 (1992). 

 In this case, as in Bullion, upon a review of the deputy 

commissioner's decision, we do not find a "specific recorded 

observation" concerning any witness' demeanor or appearance 

related to a credibility determination. The deputy commissioner 

merely concluded from the evidence before him that claimant had 

not met her burden of proof. "Absent a specific, recorded 

observation regarding the behavior, demeanor or appearance of 

[the witnesses], the commission had no duty to explain its 

reasons for . . . [accepting claimant's version of events]." Id.

 Although the deputy commissioner ambiguously referred to 

Snow's pause in answering a question as an indication of her 
 4 

being an "unwilling" witness, this reference does not constitute 

a specific recorded observation related to a credibility 

determination. The deputy commissioner did not specifically find 

that Snow's demeanor or appearance indicated that her testimony 

was untruthful, evasive, or otherwise incredible. 

 Moreover, when the commission's findings are supported by 

credible evidence, as in this case, those findings are conclusive 

and binding on appeal. See Ross Laboratories v. Barbour, 13 Va. 

App. 373, 377-78, 412 S.E.2d 205, 208 (1991). Claimant testified 

that on October 31, 1994 between 5:30 and 6:00 a.m., when she and 

Snow lifted a full, four foot tall urn of tea, claimant felt a 

pop in her back and a sharp pain. She reported the incident to 

her manager, Maurice Bartley, who told her to take pain pills. 

Bartley did not fill out an accident report. Claimant's back 

continued to hurt, but she continued to work, taking pain pills 

to treat her symptoms. On February 20, 1995, while lifting a 

five gallon bucket of tea, she felt a sharp pain and popping in 

the same part of her back. She told Judy Taylor, the store 

manager, of the incident. The testimony of Donna Shifflett and 

Snow corroborated claimant's version of events. In addition, the 

medical records of the Martha Jefferson Hospital emergency room 

and Drs. Ronald Lather, Charles Thurber, Robert Wertz and Donald 

Manning corroborated claimant's testimony. Those records 

consistently reported a history of a back injury at work in 

October 1994 with subsequent re-injury several months later at 
 5 

work. 

 Based upon claimant's testimony, which was corroborated by 

Shifflett and Snow and the medical histories, we find that 

credible evidence supports the commission's decision that 

claimant suffered an injury by accident arising out of and in the 

course of her employment on October 31, 1994. "Although contrary 

evidence may exist in the record, findings of fact made by the 

commission will be upheld on appeal when supported by credible 

evidence." Bullion, 14 Va. App. at 730, 418 S.E.2d at 907. The 

medical records also support the commission's finding that 

claimant's "current problems originated with the October 31, 

1994, accident and that subsequent incidents represent 

exacerbations of the original compensable back problem." 

 For the reasons stated, we affirm the commission's decision. 

 Affirmed.