Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, September 28, 1993                   TAG: 9309280199
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

APPEAL FILED IN CASE OF WORKER WHO LOST A HAND

The appeal is from a decision of the Workers Compensation Commission awarding $250,000 in medical costs and wage compensation to Loretta C. Shelton for the loss of her right hand.

The company and its insurance carrier, Zurich Insurance Co., contend Shelton should be denied benefits on the ground that she wilfully violated safety rules.

The commission, in reaching its 2-1 decision last month, overturned an earlier ruling by a hearing officer who held she was not entitled to benefits.

Shelton lost her hand in the cutting blades of a machine on May 8, 1992. She had been working two weeks for Brown Products when the accident happened.

The Virginia Court of Appeals is expected to hold a hearing in early 1994.