Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, December 7, 1993 TAG: 9312070194
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
The court's Nov. 5 ruling "has set workers compensation in Virginia back 75 years," Jack Crouse, president of Citizens to Improve Workers Compensation, told the rally of about a dozen people.
The ruling reversed a pattern of decisions by the Virginia Workers Compensation Commission and the Virginia Court of Appeals that had allowed such benefits.
The case stemmed from a torn rotator-cuff muscle suffered by a worker at a cabinetmaking plant operated by Merillat Industries Inc. in Southwest Virginia. The tear resulted from repetitive overhead lifting and manipulation.
Writing for a unanimous court, Justice Elizabeth Lacy said Virginia workers compensation law provides benefits for workers who suffer from a disease directly related to their employment.
The Merillat employee's disability might have met the detailed, six-part definition for an occupational disease, but the definition applies only in the case of a disease, Lacy said.
For more than two years, the Workers Compensation Commission has been studying whether to seek new laws that might make benefits available for such injuries, but it has recommended no significant action to the General Assembly.
"The Supreme Court is challenging the General Assembly to define the law more clearly," Crouse said.
He said he hopes legislation will be introduced in the session that begins in January, but no lawmaker has agreed to sponsor a bill.
Crouse said Virginia is one of the few states that does not compensate workers for cumulative trauma injuries.
by CNB