COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA 

Present: Judges Coleman, Elder and Senior Judge Cole 

Argued at Richmond, Virginia 

BRYANT HEATING & COOLING AND 

 SHELBY INSURANCE COMPANY 

 MEMORANDUM OPINION* BY 

v. Record No. 0752-96-2 JUDGE MARVIN F. COLE 

 DECEMBER 10, 1996 

JOHN CHRISTOPHER POWERS 

 FROM THE VIRGINIA WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION 

 Steven H. Theisen (Midkiff & Hiner, P.C., on 

brief), for appellants. 

 William E. Glover (Glover & Dahnk, on brief), 

for appellee. 

 Bryant Heating & Cooling and Shelby Insurance Company 

(hereinafter collectively referred to as "employer") appeal a 

decision of the Workers' Compensation Commission (commission) 

awarding compensation benefits to John Christopher Powers 

(claimant). Employer contends that the commission erred in 

finding that (1) claimant sustained an injury by accident arising 

out of and in the course of his employment on July 6, 1994; and 

(2) claimant's herniated disc was causally related to the July 6, 

1994 injury by accident. Finding no error, we affirm. 

 I. 

 On July 6, 1994, claimant was working for employer as a 

sheet metal mechanic. On that day, claimant and his co-workers 

 

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

designated for publication. 
 2 

travelled from the jobsite to a local convenience store for their 

lunch break. While travelling to the convenience store, claimant 

and his co-workers noticed a severe vibration and loud clunking 

noise coming from employer's truck. One of them crawled 

underneath the truck and found the "drive shaft was ready to fall 

out." Consequently, they took the truck to Blakely Automotive 

Center ("Blakely's") for repairs. Blakely's, a service center 

which regularly repaired employer's vehicles, was located five to 

seven miles from the jobsite where claimant and his co-workers 

had been working. 

 While waiting for Blakely's to complete the repair work, 

claimant sat in an office-type swivel chair located on Blakely's 

premises. The chair had wheels on the bottom. When claimant sat 

in the chair, it "flung back," and he "felt a sharp pain in [his] 

back." Claimant stated that the chair "went back further and 

quicker, easier than what a normal chair would." Claimant 

further explained that when he tried to sit back in the chair, 

the spring was evidently loose, causing him to feel as if he was 

falling backwards to the floor. When he tried to catch himself, 

he "felt something pop in [his] back." He also felt pain going 

down his buttock and left leg. Claimant reported the incident to 

his supervisors on July 6, 1994. 

 Based upon this record, the commission found that claimant's 

injury arose out of his employment because the chair's spring 

mechanism was not properly operating, which constituted an 
 3 

additional risk peculiar to claimant's employment. In addition, 

the commission found that the lack of any objection by Steve 

Bryant, owner of Bryant Heating & Cooling, to the truck repair 

established that employer approved of the procedure used by the 

employees, which benefitted employer and was incidental to 

claimant's employment. Therefore, the commission ruled that 

claimant's injury occurred in the course of his employment. 

 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). A 

finding by the commission that an injury did or did not arise out 

of and in the course of employment is a mixed finding of law and 

fact and is properly reviewable on appeal. City of Richmond v. 

Braxton, 230 Va. 161, 163-64, 335 S.E.2d 259, 261 (1985). 

 "The concepts of 'arising out of' and 'in the course of' 

employment are not synonymous and both conditions must be proved 

before compensation will be awarded." Marketing Profiles, Inc. 

v. Hill, 17 Va. App. 431, 433, 437 S.E.2d 727, 729 (1993) (en 

banc). "The phrase arising 'out of' refers to the origin or 

cause of the injury." Chesterfield v. Johnson, 237 Va. 180, 183, 

376 S.E.2d 73, 74 (1989). To prevail, a claimant must "show that 

the conditions of the workplace . . . caused the injury." Plumb 

Rite Plumbing Serv. v. Barbour, 8 Va. App. 482, 484, 382 S.E.2d 

305, 306 (1989). "An injury 'occurs in the "course of 

employment" when it takes place within the period of employment, 
 4 

at a place where the employee may be reasonably expected to be, 

and while he is fulfilling the duties of his employment or is 

doing something which is reasonably incidental thereto.'" Lucas 

v. Lucas, 212 Va. 561, 563, 186 S.E.2d 63, 64 (1972) (citation 

omitted). "The phrase 'arising out of and in the course of the 

employment' covers those accidents which cause injury to an 

employee while he is discharging some duty he is authorized to 

perform in furtherance of his employer's business, either 

directly or indirectly." Id. at 563, 186 S.E.2d at 65. 

 Claimant's testimony proved that the chair which caused his 

injury was unusual and was different from a normal office chair. 

 Claimant stated that when he sat down, the chair went back 

further and quicker than he would have expected from a normal 

office chair. This evidence established that while at Blakely's, 

claimant sustained an injury causally connected to a risk 

associated with the conditions of his employment. The fact that 

the general public would have been exposed to the risk of injury 

from the chair is of no consequence. The "actual risk" test 

adopted in Virginia "requires only that the employment expose the 

workman to the particular danger from which he was injured, 

notwithstanding the exposure of the public generally to like 

risks." Id. at 563, 186 S.E.2d at 64. 

 With respect to the "in the course of" prong, although no 

evidence showed that employer required claimant and his 

co-workers to take the truck to Blakely's for repair, it was 
 5 

obvious that by doing so, employer benefitted. Having the truck 

repaired quickly allowed the employees to return to the jobsite 

and continue working. Moreover, the commission was entitled to 

infer from the lack of objection by Bryant, who testified at the 

hearing, and from his payment of the invoice for the repair work, 

that employer approved of the repairs. In short, when claimant 

injured his back he was at a place he was reasonably expected to 

be while engaged in an activity incidental to his employment. He 

was not on a mission of his own wholly unconnected with his 

employment. 

 Under these circumstances, claimant's injury arose out of 

and occurred in the course of his employment. "To bar an 

employee from protection of Workmen's Compensation benefits 

because he voluntarily acted in his employer's interest would be 

to discourage constructive initiative, which is not a desirable 

result." Id. at 564, 186 S.E.2d at 65. 

 II. 

 "The actual determination of causation is a factual finding 

that will not be disturbed on appeal if there is credible 

evidence to support the finding." Ingersoll-Rand Co. v. Musick, 

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

 The evidence showed that when claimant returned at the 

jobsite on July 6, 1994, his back pain was so severe that he had 

to lie down for approximately two and one-half hours. 

Thereafter, he sought medical treatment at the Mary Washington 
 6 

 

Hospital emergency room. The emergency room physician recorded a 

history of claimant developing lower back pain and left leg pain 

after hyperextending his back at work that day. The emergency 

room Nursing Assessment Form reflects that claimant felt a pop in 

his back when he leaned back in a reclining chair. The emergency 

room attending physician diagnosed acute back strain. 

 On July 13, 1994, Dr. Michael B. O'Brien, an orthopedic 

surgeon, examined claimant. Claimant gave Dr. O'Brien a history 

of straining his back when he forcefully sat down at work on July 

6, 1994. Dr. O'Brien diagnosed lower back strain. Claimant 

returned to Dr. O'Brien on October 27, 1994. At that time, 

claimant reported extreme back pain. On October 28, 1994, Dr. 

O'Brien reported that claimant's back was sore and he was 

experiencing left leg pain. On November 9, 1994, Dr. O'Brien 

reported that a November 4, 1994 MRI revealed a moderate 

herniated disc on the left at L4-5 and a larger herniated disc at 

L5-S1. Dr. O'Brien noted that these discs had not changed since 

a December 1991 MRI performed by Dr. Lucey.1 Dr. O'Brien noted 

that claimant had a new moderate centrally herniated disc at 

L3-4. Dr. O'Brien recommended that claimant undergo back 

surgery. 

 1Claimant injured his back in 1991. However, he testified 

that he did not suffer from any leg pain related to that injury, 

and he was not suffering from any back or leg pain immediately 

before the July 6, 1994 accident. Claimant was also involved in 

a motor vehicle accident on April 22, 1994, which resulted in 

neck pain. 
 7 

 On August 3, 1995, Dr. O'Brien, responding to employer's 

attorney's written question, checked "yes" in response to whether 

it was his opinion that the July 6, 1994 incident did not cause 

claimant's herniated disc at L3-4. Employer's attorney described 

the July 6, 1994 incident as claimant being taken by surprise as 

he leaned back in a reclining chair and then tried to catch 

himself. On August 14, 1995, in response to written questions 

posed by claimant's attorney, Dr. O'Brien indicated that he had 

changed his opinion. Dr. O'Brien opined to a reasonable degree 

of medical certainty that claimant's herniated disc at L3-4 was 

caused by the July 6, 1994 incident. 

 In his September 5, 1995 deposition, Dr. O'Brien stated that 

claimant did not exhibit any radicular leg pain during his 

initial July 13, 1994 examination. Therefore, Dr. O'Brien 

diagnosed a simple lumbar strain. However, Dr. O'Brien stated 

that his findings on that date were not inconsistent with a 

central herniated disc. He noted that claimant first reported 

left leg pain on October 27, 1994. Dr. O'Brien's physical 

findings on that date were different from those on July 13, 1994, 

because the straight leg raising test was positive on the left 

side at sixty degrees. Dr. O'Brien opined that if there was 

enough force involved in the July 6, 1994 incident, "it is 

possible and it is reasonably medically certain that that trauma 

could have been enough to cause a herniated disc at L3-4." Dr. 

O'Brien opined that if enough force was placed on claimant's back 
 8 

as he leaned back in the chair, this could cause the disc to 

rupture. 

 While noting that Dr. O'Brien's opinions appeared somewhat 

inconsistent, the commission found that Dr. O'Brien's deposition 

testimony provided sufficient evidence to prove that claimant's 

herniated disc at L3-4 was caused by the July 6, 1994 accident. 

The commission, in its role as fact finder, was entitled to weigh 

the medical evidence and the credibility of the witnesses and to 

accept Dr. O'Brien's opinion. "In determining whether credible 

evidence exists, the appellate court does not retry the facts, 

reweigh the preponderance of the evidence, or make its own 

determination of the credibility of the witnesses." Wagner 

Enters., Inc. v. Brooks, 12 Va. App. 890, 894, 407 S.E.2d 32, 35 

(1991). Dr. O'Brien's opinion is not inherently incredible and 

it provides credible evidence to support the commission's 

finding. Therefore, we will not disturb this finding on appeal. 

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

 Affirmed.