ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 2, 1996 TAG: 9603040024
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
Virginians who get carpal tunnel syndrome on the job cannot collect workers compensation benefits, even if their doctors call the ailment a work-related disease, the state Supreme Court ruled Friday.
In a unanimous opinion, the court said that whether an impairment is an occupational disease as defined in the Workers Compensation Act is more a legal question than a medical one.
The Virginia Court of Appeals has upheld compensation awards to a Richmond copy editor and poultry plant workers in Bridgewater and Broadway. The court relied on doctors who said their patients had a disease.
``But just because a doctor opines that a particular impairment is a disease does not necessarily make it so,'' Chief Justice Harry L. Carrico wrote.
Carpal tunnel syndrome is a painful ailment in the hands or wrists caused by repetitive motion. Because the condition develops over a period of time, it also is not considered an injury under workers compensation law.
Daniel LeBlanc, president of the state AFL-CIO, said the Supreme Court decision leaves unions no choice but to start suing companies whose workers get carpal tunnel syndrome.
``The only remedy is to sue the employer for willful negligence for failing to maintain a safe workplace,'' LeBlanc said.
Del. Clarence ``Bud'' Phillips, D-Dickenson, said he too will start taking employers to court. Phillips sponsored a bill to change the workers compensation law to cover carpal tunnel syndrome, but it was shelved until next year by a Senate committee.
``I'm going to try to organize a group of plaintiff lawyers ... and take some of these cases to court, even if I have to donate my time,'' said Phillips, an attorney.
``People threaten to sue all the time,'' said Robert Kyle, vice president of the Virginia Manufacturers Association. ``It's hyperbole, that's all.''
The legislature for years has wrestled with the issue of whether carpal tunnel syndrome should be covered by workers compensation. A bill to do just that passed last year but was vetoed by Gov. George Allen, who said it would ``harm our competitive position and ability to attract new jobs and investment'' by driving up employers' costs.
This year's legislation by Phillips passed in the House of Delegates but was put off by a Senate committee at the suggestion of the manufacturers association.
``We did not oppose his bill,'' Kyle said. ``What we did say was, in light of the Supreme Court opinion we were anticipating, we thought it would be appropriate to carry the bill over.''
House Majority Leader Richard Cranwell, D-Vinton, sponsored a bill similar to Phillips' this year. His bill was put off until next year by a House committee.
``Virginia is a very, very conservative state when it comes to looking at injuries'' covered by workers compensation, Cranwell said. ``To ignore the fact that there are repetitive trauma injuries is shortsighted,'' Cranwell said.
Mary Ann Link, chief deputy commissioner for the Workers Compensation Commission, said carpal tunnel syndrome sufferers who were awarded benefits and whose cases were not appealed will not be affected by Friday's ruling. But how many more such awards will be given is another matter.
``By all means, the commission will follow the exact language and intent of the Supreme Court opinion,'' Link said.
Last year, 566 Virginians filed workers compensation claims for carpal tunnel syndrome. Compensation was awarded to 277.
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