COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA 

Present: Judges Benton, Annunziata and Senior Judge Overton*

Argued at Norfolk, Virginia 

SURFACE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION AND 

 NATIONAL UNION FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY 

 OF PITTSBURGH 

 MEMORANDUM OPINION** BY 

v. Record No. 1468-98-1 JUDGE NELSON T. OVERTON 

 FEBRUARY 2, 1999 

KERRY ORLANDO RIDLEY 

 FROM THE VIRGINIA WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION 

 F. Nash Bilisoly (Kelly O. Stokes; 

Vandeventer Black, on briefs), for 

appellants. 

 Gregory E. Camden (Montagna, Klein & Camden, 

on brief), for appellee. 

 Surface Technologies Corporation (employer) appeals an award 

of the Workers' Compensation Commission (commission) awarding 

Kerry O. Ridley (claimant) temporary total disability benefits. 

The commission found that claimant sustained a compensable injury 

when a co-worker struck claimant's head with a bar. Although 

employer has presented several questions for review, they all 

amount to the single issue of whether the commission's award is 

supported by the evidence. Because we hold that the evidence was 

sufficient to support the commission's award, we affirm. 

 

 *Judge Overton participated in the hearing and decision of 

this case prior to the effective date of his retirement on 

January 31, 1999 and thereafter by his designation as a senior 

judge pursuant to Code § 17.1-401, recodifying Code 

§ 17-116.01:1. 

 **Pursuant to Code § 17.1-413, recodifying Code § 17-116.010, 

this opinion is not designated for publication. 
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 The parties are fully conversant with the record and because 

this memorandum opinion carries no precedental value, we include 

only those facts necessary to disposition of this appeal. 

 Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to 

claimant, the prevailing party below, see R.G. Moore Bldg. Corp. 

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

evidence proves that on March 7, 1996, claimant was struck from 

behind by a co-worker, Timothy Weeks. Weeks was upset because 

claimant had re-assigned Weeks to a less desirable job earlier 

that day. Weeks and claimant scuffled, claimant pinned Weeks to 

the ground and then released him. As claimant turned and walked 

away, Weeks picked up a metal bar and struck claimant in the back 

of the head. 

 While there was some conflicting testimony regarding the 

cause and nature of the fight, the commission accepted claimant's 

testimony as more credible than that of several other witnesses. 

 The commission found that claimant was injured as a result of 

the work-related disagreement and the injury was compensable. 

The commission specifically rejected employer's argument that 

claimant was the aggressor in the fight or that the fight 

constituted "horseplay." 

 When reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence in support of 

compensation awards: 

 "[w]e do not retry the facts before the 

Commission nor do we review the weight, 
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preponderance of the evidence, or the 

credibility of witnesses. If there is 

evidence or reasonable inference that can be 

drawn from the evidence to support the 

Commission's findings, they will not be 

disturbed by this Court on appeal, even 

though there is evidence in the record to 

support contrary findings of fact." 

Ford Motor Co. v. Hunt, 26 Va. App. 231, 236, 494 S.E.2d 152, 

154-55 (1997) (quoting Caskey v. Dan River Mills, Inc., 225 Va. 

405, 411, 302 S.E.2d 507, 510-11 (1983)). Because the evidence 

fully supports the commission's findings, we shall not disturb 

them on appeal. 

 Claimant has placed one additional issue before us. He asks 

that employer pay claimant's attorney's fees and costs incurred 

by the appeal. While employer's arguments are unoriginal, we 

cannot say they were "brought, prosecuted, or defended without 

reasonable grounds." Code § 65.2-713(A). We, therefore, decline 

to assign claimant's attorney's fees and costs to employer. 

 Because the evidence is sufficient to support the 

commission's findings, we affirm claimant's award. 

 Affirmed.