Virginia State University v. Almeaner Gilliam ( 1996 )

COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA
Present: Judges Elder, Bray and Fitzpatrick
Argued at Richmond, Virginia
VIRGINIA STATE UNIVERSITY
MEMORANDUM OPINION * BY
v. Record No. 1746-95-2 JUDGE LARRY G. ELDER
APRIL 2, 1996
ALMEANER GILLIAM
FROM THE VIRGINIA WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION
A. Ann Berkebile, Assistant Attorney General
(James S. Gilmore, III, Attorney General;
Catherine C. Hammond, Deputy Attorney
General; Gregory E. Lucyk, Senior Assistant
Attorney General, on brief), for appellant.
(John H. Maclin, IV, on brief), for appellee.
Virginia State University (employer) appeals the Workers'
Compensation Commission's (commission) award of benefits to
Almeaner Gilliam (claimant). Employer asserts that the
commission erred in finding that claimant sustained a compensable
injury by accident "arising out of" her employment. Agreeing
with employer, we reverse the commission's decision.
The record reveals that on October 4, 1993, following a
meeting at which employer told claimant that she would be
transferred to another department, claimant became very upset and
began to cry. After attempting to compose herself in the rest
room, claimant approached a flight of stairs, intending to
*
Pursuant to Code § 17-116.010 this opinion is not
designated for publication.
descend to the ground floor of the building to meet with her
supervisor. When claimant reached the top of the stairs, she
began to feel "kind of funny," became "dizzy," lost
consciousness, and fell down the flight of stairs, which
contained seventeen to twenty steps.
Claimant received immediate medical care, followed by
ongoing treatment from various physicians. Dr. David A. Layman
opined that claimant suffered a syncopal spell, which caused her
to fall down the steps. Dr. Layman diagnosed claimant as
suffering from a concussion and contusion of the head, neck,
thoracic and lumbar sprains, as well as accelerated hypertension.
At the deputy commissioner's hearing on January 17, 1995,
claimant conceded that nothing was structurally wrong with the
stairs and that no foreign objects on the stairs caused her fall.
Claimant also conceded that she suffered previous black out
episodes in the past. Medical records indicated that claimant
had a long-standing history of dizziness, black outs,
hyperventilation, anxiety attacks, and hypertension. Evidence
also showed claimant suffered from high blood pressure and
anemia.
The deputy commissioner found that claimant's fall
constituted a compensable injury by accident. The full
commission affirmed and modified the deputy commissioner's
decision, awarding temporary total disability benefits from
October 4, 1993 to November 29, 1993, along with medical care
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costs. Employer appeals to this Court.
"A claimant has the burden of proving by a preponderance of
the evidence, and not by mere conjecture or speculation, than an
injury was the result of an accident which arose out of and in
the course of the employment." Winegar v. International
Telephone & Telegraph, 1 Va. App. 260, 261, 337 S.E.2d 760, 760
(1985). Furthermore, "the causative danger must be peculiar to
the work and not common to the neighborhood. It must be
incidental to the character of the business and not independent
of the relation of master and servant." Richmond Memorial Hosp.
v. Crane, 222 Va. 283, 285, 278 S.E.2d 877, 879 (1981).
Upon reviewing the record, we hold that claimant did not
sustain a compensable injury by accident arising out of her
employment. Claimant's fall resulted from an idiopathic
condition. "When an employee's injuries result from an
idiopathic condition and no other factors intervene or operate to
cause or contribute to the injuries sustained as a result of the
idiopathic condition, no award shall be made." Virginia Dept. of
Transp. v. Mosebrook, 13 Va. App. 536, 538, 413 S.E.2d 350,
351-52 (1992). In other words, "'the effects of [an idiopathic]
fall are compensable if the employment places the employee in a
position increasing the dangerous effects of such a fall, such as
on a height, near machinery or sharp corners, or in a moving
vehicle.'" Southland Corp. v. Parson, 1 Va. App. 281, 284-85,
338 S.E.2d 162, 164 (1985)(citation omitted). There is no
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evidence that claimant's duties for her employer required use of
stairs.
For the foregoing reasons, we reverse the commission's
decision.
Reversed.
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