Court: Injury Sustained in 45 Minutes Isn't Result of Repetitive Trauma

A Virginia appellate court found that a firefighter who hurt his back while lifting a 400-pound man suffered a compensable injury because of an accident, and not a repetitive trauma injury, which would not be compensable under the state’s workers’ compensation law. Defendants in Van Buren v. Augusta County claimed that Robert Van Buren's injury did not pass the four-part accident test, which defines an accident as "an identifiable incident that occurs at some reasonably definite time, causing a sudden change in the body that can be linked to the incident." Defendant...