Western Elec. Co. v. Gilliam

Decision Date26 April 1985
Docket NumberNo. 831835,831835
Citation329 S.E.2d 13,229 Va. 245
PartiesWESTERN ELECTRIC COMPANY v. Brenda E. GILLIAM. Record
CourtVirginia Supreme Court

C. Torrence Armstrong, Fairfax (Boothe, Prichard & Dudley, Fairfax, on brief), for appellant.

Jack T. Burgess, Washington, D.C. (Koonz, McKenney & Johnson, P.C., Washington, D.C., on brief), for appellee.

Present: All the Justices.

PER CURIAM.

The question posed by this appeal is whether, as the Industrial Commission ruled, tenosynovitis, a condition gradually incurred on account of repeated, work-related trauma, is compensable as an occupational disease under the Workers' Compensation Act.

On January 28, 1983, Brenda Gilliam filed an application for a hearing before the Commission. Alleging that she had contracted tenosynovitis and that the "[c]ondition developed gradually", she claimed medical benefits for the treatment of an "occupational disease". We review the evidence in the light most favorable to the claimant, who prevailed below.

Gilliam was employed by Western Electric Company in 1978. Her duties as a telephone-repair worker involved rapid, repetitive, and virtually continuous manipulation of her hands as telephone components moved along an assembly line. Gilliam first complained of pain in her hands in March 1980 when she was examined by Dr. J.J. Bellas, a physician employed by Western. During the remainder of that year, she visited Dr. Bellas on numerous occasions, reported the same symptoms, and attributed her problem to her duties at work. In February 1981, Dr. Bellas recommended a "work restriction", and Western changed her work assignment.

Based upon an examination conducted February 19, 1981, Dr. Charles Emich, an orthopedic surgeon, diagnosed Gilliam's condition as "[t]enosynovitis of long flexors of the thumb in both hands". As appears from progress reports recorded in February and March 1981, Dr. Emich found "no underlying disease process", concluded that Gilliam's symptoms were "due to an overuse type of syndrome", opined that "her condition was related to the repetitive motions involved in her job", and prescribed physical therapy, "resistive exercises", and a change in her work routine. In his final report, he stated that he had found "no persistent symptoms relative to her hands" and discharged his patient effective April 25, 1981.

Characterizing tenosynovitis as an occupational disease and finding that the claimant had proved causal connection, the deputy commissioner entered an award directing Western to pay the medical expenses Gilliam had incurred in the course of her treatment. Upon review, the full Commission affirmed the award.

As defined in section 107 of The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy (14th ed. 1982), a medical treatise cited by both parties, tenosynovitis is an "[i]nflammation of the lining of the tendon sheath ... [which] may be involved in systemic diseases ... [or may be caused by] [e]xtreme or repeated trauma, strain, or excessive (unaccustomed) exercise".

For purposes of this opinion, we accept the Commission's factual finding that tenosynovitis is a disease. Compensability of a disease, gradually-incurred on account of repeated, work-related trauma, is not necessarily controlled by our decisions that an injury so induced is beyond the coverage of the Workers' Compensation Act. See, e.g., Kraft Products v. Bernardini, 229 Va. 253, 329 S.E.2d 46 (this day decided); Lane Company, Inc. v. Saunders, 229 Va. 196, 326 S.E.2d 702 (1985). However, the General Assembly has provided that an ordinary disease of life, i.e., a disease "to which the general public is exposed outside of the employment", Code § 65.1-46, is not covered by the Act unless it falls within one of the two exceptions stated in the statute. And, construing that statute and citing Commission...

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18 cases
  • Allied Fibers v. Rhodes
    • United States
    • Virginia Court of Appeals
    • September 3, 1996
    ...an ordinary disease of life rather than an occupational disease. Prior to the Supreme Court's decision in Western Electric Co. v. Gilliam, 229 Va. 245, 329 S.E.2d 13 (1985), the commission routinely awarded claimants benefits for hearing loss caused by exposure to noise at work. Island Cree......
  • Gencarelle v. General Dynamics Corp.
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit
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    ...after twenty-four years of work in garbage collection and road repair work involving repeated lifting); but see Western Elec. Co. v. Gilliam, 229 Va. 245, 329 S.E.2d 13 (1985) (tenosynovitis in hand of assembly line worker not occupational disease, because general public also We are wary, h......
  • Perdue Farms, Inc. v. McCutchan
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    • Virginia Court of Appeals
    • September 12, 1995
    ...inconsistency, if not total confusion. In Holly Farms v. Yancey, 228 Va. 337, 321 S.E.2d 298 (1984), Western Electric Co. v. Gilliam, 229 Va. 245, 329 S.E.2d 13 (1985), 1 and finally in Merillat, the Supreme Court declined to cite with approval a definitive and comprehensive definition of "......
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