COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA 

Present: Judges Benton, Coleman and Senior Judge Cole 

Argued at Richmond, Virginia 

SEARS, ROEBUCK & CO. AND 

 LUMBERMAN'S MUTUAL CASUALTY COMPANY 

v. Record No. 0208-95-2 MEMORANDUM OPINION*

 BY JUDGE MARVIN F. COLE 

DAVID OTIS PIERCE DECEMBER 5, 1995 

FROM THE VIRGINIA WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION 

 Lynne Jones Blain (Michelle P. Wiltshire; Morris and 

Morris, on brief), for appellants. 

 B. Mayes Marks, Jr. (Marks & Lee, on brief), for 

appellee. 

 Sears, Roebuck & Co. and its insurer (hereinafter 

collectively referred to as "employer") appeal a decision of the 

Worker's Compensation Commission awarding benefits to David O. 

Pierce. Employer contends that the commission erred in reversing 

the deputy commissioner's credibility determination and finding 

that Pierce proved that he sustained an injury by accident 

arising out of and in the course of his employment on October 14, 

1993. Finding no error, we affirm. 

 I.

 Pierce worked for employer as a lawn mower technician. On 

February 18, 1994, Pierce filed an application alleging a right 

groin injury occurring at work on October 14, 1993. The 

Employer's First Report of Accident, filed with the commission on 

 

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

designated for publication. 
 2 

January 24, 1994, indicated that Pierce strained his right groin 

while lifting a tiller into a customer's vehicle on October 14, 

1993. The report also stated that Pierce reported his injury to 

his supervisor, Willie Harris, on October 14, 1993. 

 Pierce testified that on October 14, 1993, he picked up a 

150-pound tiller in an attempt to place the tiller into a truck. 

 The tiller moved and fell out of the truck, causing Pierce to 

grab it before it fell to the ground. Pierce stated that he 

informed Harris about the incident and that he felt something in 

his stomach. 

 Pierce continued to work in his regular job between October 

14, 1993 and November 24, 1993. On November 24, 1993, 

Thanksgiving day, Pierce called the employee in charge of the 

repair department and told her that he needed to see a doctor to 

determine if he had sustained a hernia. On November 25, 1993, 

employer referred Pierce to Dr. J. Leo Crosier. 

 Dr. Crosier examined Pierce on November 29, 1993. Dr. 

Crosier recorded a history of Pierce sustaining the groin injury 

approximately two weeks prior, on November 14, 1993. Dr. Crosier 

also noted that Pierce told him he was in the process of lifting 

a tiller at work when the pain started. Dr. Crosier diagnosed a 

"widened inguinal ring-possible inguinal hernia." Dr. Crosier 

referred Pierce to Dr. Benjamin H. Rice, a general surgeon. 

 On December 6, 1993, Dr. Rice examined Pierce. Dr. Rice 

reported that Pierce told him he developed right groin pain while 
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helping a customer lift a tiller on November 5, 1993. Dr. Rice 

diagnosed right groin pain with possible early hernia. Dr. 

Rice's Attending Physician's Reports, rendered in February and 

March 1994, reflect the date of injury as October 14, 1993. 

Physical therapy notes, dated February 16, 1994, reflect that 

Pierce picked up a tiller at work on October 14, 1993 and "it got 

away from him." 

 On November 24, 1993, Pierce completed an "Associate 

Statement of Injury," upon which he indicated that he sustained a 

groin injury on November 5, 1993, while lifting a tiller out of a 

truck. In response to the question on the statement as to who 

Pierce reported the injury to, it is recorded that, "[t]his 

injury came on slowly, its hard for me to say the day, hour at 

which it occurred." Pierce remembered completing and signing 

this statement, but he did not believe he wrote the portion of 

the statement indicating a gradual injury. 

 Harris, the lead person in employer's parts department, 

testified that Pierce did not report an injury caused by lifting 

a tiller on October 14, 1993. Harris stated that on November 23, 

1993, Pierce told him that he had a knot or a bump in his thigh 

or leg. Harris contended that Pierce never reported to him how 

the injury occurred or that he was sure it happened at work. 

 II.

 In denying Pierce's application, the deputy commissioner 

found that Pierce did not meet his burden of proving an injury by 
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accident arising out of and in the course of his employment. 

Based upon his observation of Pierce at the hearing and a review 

of the evidence indicating varying dates of injury, the deputy 

commissioner found that Pierce's version of events was not 

credible. 

 In its December 30, 1994 opinion reversing the deputy 

commissioner, the full commission found that Pierce testified to 

an injury by accident occurring at a specific time and place. 

The commission found that the Employer's First Report of Accident 

corroborated Pierce's testimony, and that Harris' testimony and 

the "Associate Statement of Injury" did not rebut Pierce's 

evidence. The commission also found that Dr. Rice's Attending 

Physician's Report dated March 12, 1994 established Pierce's 

disability. The commission awarded temporary total disability 

benefits to Pierce from October 14, 1993 through March 2, 1994. 

 III.

 Employer contends that the full commission arbitrarily 

ignored the deputy commissioner's credibility determination and 

failed to articulate a sufficient basis for its conclusion under 

the requirements of our holding in Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. v. 

Pierce, 5 Va. App. 374, 383, 363 S.E.2d 433, 437 (1989). 

However, 

 [t]he principle set forth in Pierce 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 
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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 Lane, 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. In his opinion, the 

deputy commissioner merely stated that, "based upon the evidence 

before us, we must conclude that [Pierce] has not met his burden 

of proof." The deputy commissioner also stated that, "[b]ased 

upon our observation of [Pierce] at the hearing and our 

examination of the evidence, we find that his version of events 

simply is not credible." "Absent a specific, recorded 

observation regarding the behavior, demeanor or appearance of 

[Pierce or Harris], the commission had no duty to explain its 

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

Therefore, employer's argument is without merit. 

 Moreover, when the commission's findings are supported by 

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

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

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

he sustained a groin injury on October 14, 1993, when he picked 

up a 150-pound tiller, put it into a truck, and then caught it as 
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it fell. He also testified that he reported the incident and his 

injury to Harris on that day. The Employer's First Report of 

Accident supports Pierce's testimony. The "Associate Statement 

of Injury" also states that Pierce injured himself while lifting 

a tiller. Although the exact date of injury recorded in the 

documentary evidence is inconsistent, the medical records of Drs. 

Crosier and Rice and the physical therapy notes consistently 

report a history of Pierce sustaining a groin injury while 

lifting a tiller at work, which corroborated Pierce's testimony. 

 Based upon Pierce's testimony and Employer's First Report, 

together with the medical records, we find that credible evidence 

supports the commission's decision that Pierce suffered an injury 

by accident to his groin arising out of and in the course of his 

employment on October 14, 1993. "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." Lane, 

14 Va. App. at 730, 418 S.E.2d at 907. 

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

 Affirmed.