COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA 

Present: Judges Bray, Annunziata and Overton 

STONE CONTAINER CORPORATION 

 MEMORANDUM OPINION*

v. Record No. 1861-96-3 PER CURIAM 

 FEBRUARY 4, 1997 

EVELYN M. CLARK 

 FROM THE VIRGINIA WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION 

 (Martha White Medley; Daniel, Vaughan, 

Medley & Smitherman, on brief), for 

appellant. 

 (Charles W. O'Donnell, on brief), for 

appellee. 

 Stone Container Corporation (employer) contends that the 

Workers' Compensation Commission (commission) erred in finding 

that (1) Evelyn M. Clark (claimant) sustained an injury by 

accident arising out of and in the course of her employment on 

April 3, 1995; and (2) claimant's back condition and resulting 

disability were causally related to the April 3, 1995 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. 

 I. 

 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. 
 2 

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

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). 

 Claimant testified, that on April 3, 1995 while in the 

course of her employment, she lifted a twenty pound bundle of 

folded cardboard boxes onto an adjacent fifty-eight inch stack 

and felt a "pulling sensation" in her lower back and left leg. 

Claimant's testimony, which is not inconsistent with the 

histories of her accident as recorded in the medical records, 

provides credible evidence to support the commission's finding 

that she proved an injury by accident arising out of and in the 

course of her employment on April 3, 1995. Accordingly, this 

finding is conclusive upon us. 

 II. 

 "The employer takes the employee as [she] is and if the 

employee is suffering from some physical infirmity, which is 

aggravated by an industrial accident, the employer is responsible 

for the end result of such accident." McDaniel v. Colonial 

Mechanical Corp., 3 Va. App. 408, 414, 350 S.E.2d 225, 228 

(1986). 

 The commission awarded claimant temporary total disability 
 3 

benefits, holding that her April 3, 1995 injury by accident 

materially aggravated a preexisting condition. In so ruling, the 

commission found as follows: 

 The claimant reported her injury to her 

supervisor, Gravely, on the night it 

occurred. She sought medical treatment 

during the early morning hours of April 4, 

1995, and gave a history of injuring her back 

at work. Although the claimant admits a 

prior history of back problems stemming from 

a 1991 injury, we find it significant that 

she had received no medical treatment for 

this condition since April 1993. 

Additionally, she had missed no time from 

work due to her back condition during 1993, 

1994, and the first three months of 1995 

preceding her accident. Dr. [Richard L.] 

Rauck, who has extensively treated the 

claimant, reported that the accident of April 

3, 1995, aggravated her preexisting condition 

causing it to become symptomatic. 

 We must uphold the commission's findings of fact if they are 

supported by credible evidence. James v. Capitol Steel Constr. 

Co., 8 Va. App. 512, 515, 382 S.E.2d 487, 488 (1989). The 

determination of causation is a factual finding. Ingersoll-Rand 

Co. v. Musick, 7 Va. App. 684, 688, 376 S.E.2d 814, 817 (1989). 

Moreover, "[q]uestions raised by conflicting medical opinion must 

be decided by the commission." Penley v. Island Creek Coal Co., 

8 Va. App. 310, 318, 381 S.E.2d 231, 236 (1989). 

 In its role as fact finder, the commission was entitled to 

weigh the medical evidence and to accept Dr. Rauck's opinion 

regarding causation. The commission was also entitled to reject 

the contrary opinion of Dr. Thomas Wagner, who examined claimant 

at employer's request. Dr. Rauck's opinion, as well as the 
 4 

medical records and claimant's testimony, constitute credible 

evidence to support the commission's decision. "The fact that 

there is contrary evidence in the record is of no consequence if 

there is credible evidence to support the commission's finding." 

Wagner Enters., Inc. v. Brooks, 12 Va. App. 890, 894, 407 S.E.2d 

32, 35 (1991). 

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

 Affirmed.