COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA 

Present: Judges Agee, Annunziata and Senior Judge Coleman 

FOOD LION, INC. AND 

 RISK MANAGEMENT SERVICES, INC. 

 MEMORANDUM OPINION*

v. Record No. 1734-01-1 PER CURIAM 

 NOVEMBER 13, 2001 

DOUGLAS MCARTHUR SEALS, JR. 

 FROM THE VIRGINIA WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION 

 (Tenley A. Carroll-Seli; Pierce & Howard, 

P.C., on brief), for appellants. 

 No brief for appellee. 

 Food Lion, Inc. and its insurer (hereinafter referred to as 

"employer") contend that the Workers’ Compensation Commission 

erred in finding that Douglas McArthur Seals, Jr. (claimant) 

proved that he sustained an injury by accident arising out of 

his employment on June 15, 2000. Upon reviewing the record and 

opening brief, we conclude that this appeal is without merit. 

Accordingly, we summarily affirm the commission’s decision. See

Rule 5A:27. 

 On appeal, we view the evidence in the light most favorable 

to the prevailing party below. R.G. Moore Bldg. Corp. v.

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

"Whether an injury arises out of the employment is a mixed 

 

* Pursuant to Code § 17.1-413, this opinion is not 

designated for publication. 
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question of law and fact and is reviewable by the appellate 

court." Plumb Rite Plumbing Serv. v. Barbour, 8 Va. App. 482, 

483, 382 S.E.2d 305, 305 (1989). "The phrase arising 'out of' 

refers to the origin or cause of the injury." County of

Chesterfield v. Johnson, 237 Va. 180, 183, 376 S.E.2d 73, 74 

(1989). To prevail, claimant must "show that the conditions of 

the workplace or that some significant work related exertion 

caused the injury." Plumb Rite, 8 Va. App. at 484, 382 S.E.2d 

at 306. 

 In ruling that claimant met his burden of proof, the 

commission found as follows: 

[C]laimant sustained injury when he 

unexpectedly was required to catch a 

shoplifter. The claimant's knee gave out as 

he turned a corner trying to catch a 

shoplifter. He testified that he started 

walking slowly and then in trying to speed 

up to get to the door quickly, he took two 

steps, turned the corner, trying to avoid 

the corner of the register, when he felt his 

knee pop and give way. The Deputy 

Commissioner found the claimant credible and 

resolved any discrepancies in the record in 

his favor. We generally defer to a Deputy 

Commissioner's credibility determinations 

regarding witnesses the deputy observed 

first hand and from whom impressions were 

formed. 

 The record establishes that the 

claimant was injured as he changed his gait 

in an effort to move more quickly. He 

testified this action, planting his foot, 

was more "forceful" than mere walking. That 

action taken and movement made, done to 

apprehend suspected shoplifters, is the 

"critical link" between the accident and the 
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employment. We agree with the Deputy 

Commissioner that the injury arose out of 

the employment. 

 Claimant's testimony constitutes credible evidence to 

support the commission's factual findings. Claimant stated that 

when he planted his foot and tried to push off to run across the 

front of the store to catch the shoplifter, his knee popped and 

gave way. Claimant was not simply walking and his knee gave 

way. Rather, the commission could reasonably infer from the 

evidence that claimant's employment-related need to hurry to 

catch the shoplifters resulted in his knee injury. "Where 

reasonable inferences may be drawn from the evidence in support 

of the commission's factual findings, they will not be disturbed 

by this Court on appeal." Hawks v. Henrico County Sch. Bd., 7 

Va. App. 398, 404, 374 S.E.2d 695, 698 (1988). Here, the 

evidence supported an inference that the conditions of the 

workplace either caused or contributed to the claimant's injury. 

 Accordingly, we affirm the commission's decision. 

Affirmed.