COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA 

Present: Judges Baker, Coleman and Elder 

Argued at Richmond, Virginia 

TULTEX CORPORATION 

 MEMORANDUM OPINION* BY 

v. Record No. 1526-95-2 JUDGE LARRY G. ELDER 

 FEBRUARY 27, 1996 

EDWARD SANTUK 

 FROM THE VIRGINIA WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION 

 Martha White Medley (Daniel, Vaughan, Medley & 

Smitherman, P.C., on brief), for appellant. 

 Peter McIntosh (Michie, Hamlett, Lowry, Rasmussen & 

Tweel, P.C., on brief), for appellee. 

 Tultex Corporation (employer) appeals the commission's award 

of benefits to Edward Santuk (claimant). Employer asserts that 

claimant failed to prove that he suffered an injury by accident 

which arose out of and in the course of his employment and which 

was causally related to his disability. For the following 

reasons, we affirm the commission's decision. 

 Employer employed claimant as a "dryer doffer," which 

required him to stand behind a dryer and move "trucks" as they 

filled with clothes. On May 31, 1994, claimant slipped on a 

puddle of water while pushing a hand truck at his workplace. As 

he slipped, claimant felt a "little jerk" in his right hip. 

Claimant felt pain the next day and went to the company nurse for 

pain medication and ointment. After returning to work from a 

 

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

designated for publication. 
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scheduled break from June 2, 1994 to June 4, 1994, claimant told 

employer that his pain had increased. 

 Dr. Jacob Moll examined claimant on June 13, 1994. Dr. Moll 

reported a history of increasing pain for two weeks after the 

workplace incident, diagnosed a hip strain, and recommended light 

duty work. Claimant returned to light duty work on June 13, 

1994. Dr. Eric Korsch examined claimant on July 28, 1994, 

diagnosed a recurrent disk problem on the right side at the L5-S1 

level and ordered an MRI. After claimant's pain became disabling 

in August 1994, an MRI performed by Dr. Korsch revealed 

degenerative disease involving the L4-5 and L5-S1 levels, a large 

herniated disk on the right at the L4-5 level, and a small 

herniated disk at L5-S1, "which appears to be recurrent." On 

September 20, 1994, Dr. David Kelly performed a lumbar 

laminectomy with decompression of the nerve root on the right at 

the L5-S1 level. On January 3, 1995, claimant returned to his 

pre-injury job. 

 Medical records and testimony reveal claimant had back 

surgery in 1982 while employed by another employer. However, 

from 1982 through the early 1990s, claimant performed full duty 

work and missed no work due to back pain. After re-injuring his 

back on September 25, 1992, while working for employer, doctors 

diagnosed claimant with chronic low back pain. On December 3, 

1992, Dr. Moll stated that claimant had returned to normal 

strength and functioning and stated that the low back pain had 
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been "resolved." 

 Claimant applied for temporary partial disability benefits 

from June 23, 1994 to July 28, 1994, and temporary total benefits 

from July 29, 1994 through December 30, 1994. The deputy 

commissioner denied claimant benefits and found that claimant 

failed to prove that he experienced an obvious, sudden mechanical 

or structural change in the body and failed to prove a causal 

connection between the incident claimed and the bodily change. 

The full commission reversed the deputy commissioner's decision 

and awarded temporary total benefits from July 29, 1994 through 

December 30, 1994. 

 When there is credible evidence to support the commission's 

decision, we must affirm the decision on appeal. Rucker v. 

Thrift Transf., Inc., 1 Va. App. 417, 419, 339 S.E.2d 561, 562 

(1986). We construe the evidence in the light most favorable to 

the party prevailing below. R.G. Moore Bldg. Corp. v. Mullins, 

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

say as a matter of law that claimant's evidence failed to sustain 

his burden of proof, the commission's finding is binding and 

conclusive upon us. Tomko v. Michael's Plastering Co., 210 Va. 

697, 699, 173 S.E.2d 833, 835 (1970). 

 In order to prove an injury by accident as required by Code 

§ 65.2-101, a claimant must point to an "identifiable incident or 

sudden precipitating event" that results "in an obvious sudden 

mechanical or structural change in the body." Morris v. Morris, 
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238 Va. 578, 589, 385 S.E.2d 858, 865 (1989); see Chesterfield 

County v. Dunn, 9 Va. App. 475, 476, 389 S.E.2d 180, 181 (1990). 

 The commission found that claimant sustained an injury by 

accident arising out of and in the course of his employment on 

May 31, 1994, when he slipped in a puddle of water. Claimant's 

testimony, which is largely corroborated by employer's personnel, 

provides ample credible evidence to support the commission's 

finding that an identifiable incident occurred at a definite time 

and that he suffered a sudden mechanical or structural change in 

his body. Dunn, 9 Va. App. at 476, 389 S.E.2d at 181. Thus, 

that finding is conclusive on appeal. See James v. Capitol Steel 

Constr. Co., 8 Va. App. 512, 515, 382 S.E.2d 487, 488 (1989). 

 Furthermore, "[t]he 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). In this 

case, the medical records and opinions of Doctors Korsch and Moll 

provide credible evidence that link claimant's disk herniations, 

surgery, and disability to the May 31, 1994 injury by accident. 

As the commission found, the medical histories consistently 

reported a history of increasing pain since the workplace 

accident and also showed "a progressive deterioration of the 

claimant's condition since the accident which ultimately required 

surgical intervention." 

 Because we cannot say that the commission erred in finding 
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that claimant sustained a compensable injury by accident, we 

affirm the commission's decision. 

Affirmed.