COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA 

Present: Judges Benton, Coleman and Willis 

HARMAN CEILING AND PARTITIONING 

 COMPANY, INC. AND VIRGINIA 

 CONTRACTORS GROUP SELF-INSURANCE 

 ASSOCIATION 

 MEMORANDUM OPINION*

v. Record No. 0612-99-3 PER CURIAM 

 JULY 20, 1999 

MICHAEL L. LUSK 

 FROM THE VIRGINIA WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION 

 (William H. Fralin, Jr.; Jolly, Place, 

Fralin & Prillaman, P.C., on brief), for 

appellants. 

 No brief for appellee. 

 Harman Ceiling and Partitioning Company, Inc. and its 

insurer (hereinafter referred to as "employer") contend that the 

Workers' Compensation Commission erred in finding that 

Michael L. Lusk proved that (1) he gave employer notice of his 

December 5, 1995 injury by accident as required by Code 

§ 65.2-600; and (2) his medical treatment was causally related 

to his December 5, 1995 injury by accident. Upon reviewing the 

record and appellants' opening brief, we conclude that this 

appeal is without merit. Accordingly, we summarily affirm the 

commission's decision. See Rule 5A:27. 

 

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

this opinion is not designated for publication. 
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I. Notice

 In Kane Plumbing, Inc. v. Small, 7 Va. App. 132, 371 S.E.2d 

828 (1988), we recognized that "'where there was no written 

notice but . . . where a foreman or superior officer had actual 

knowledge of the occurrence of an accident . . . within a 

reasonable time after the accident . . . occurred and no 

prejudice to the employer's rights was shown, this was 

sufficient notice under this provision of the statute.'" Id. at 

138, 371 S.E.2d at 832 (quoting Department of Game and Inland 

Fisheries v. Joyce, 147 Va. 89, 97, 136 S.E. 651, 654 (1927)). 

 Lusk testified without contradiction that his supervisor, 

Elmer Smith, was "right beside" him at the time of the December 

5, 1995 accident. Lusk testified that he immediately reported 

the accident to Smith. Smith said he would report the accident 

and told Lusk "to take it easy." The fact that Lusk asked Smith 

not to report the accident does not equate with a failure to 

give notice of the accident. The commission's factual findings 

that Lusk reported the accident to his supervisor, who was an 

eyewitness to the accident, are supported by credible evidence. 

Therefore, the notice to Smith was timely and served as notice 

to employer pursuant to Code § 65.2-600. 

II. Causation

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

to 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 
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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). 

 Dr. Scott Hayes recorded a history that Lusk's pain after 

the December 5, 1995 accident was of abrupt onset, that it 

affected Lusk's lumbar spine, and that it had a radicular 

quality. Lusk testified that although he had suffered from 

previous back pain, the pain he felt after the December 5, 1995 

accident was much more intense than anything he had ever 

experienced before. Dr. Laurence I. Kleiner, a neurosurgeon, 

diagnosed a disc herniation at the L3-4 level. Lusk testified 

that although some of his pain abated after the surgery, he 

still suffers from back symptoms and has not fully recovered. 

 The commission found that the medical treatment received by 

Lusk after the December 5, 1995 accident was causally related to 

that accident. Lusk's testimony and the medical records provide 

credible evidence to support the commission's finding. 

Therefore, that finding is binding upon us on appeal. 

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

Affirmed.