Opinion
Record No. 1536-94-4
Decided: February 21, 1995
FROM THE VIRGINIA WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION
(Kathleen G. Walsh; Ashcraft Gerel, on brief), for appellant.
(Russell G. Henshall; M. Lynn McHale; Siciliano, Ellis, Dyer Boccarosse, on brief), for appellees.
Present: Judges Benton, Coleman and Willis
Pursuant to Code Sec. 17-116.010 this opinion is not designated for publication.
Harry Clark contends that the Workers' Compensation Commission erred in denying his application for benefits for additional permanent loss of hearing to his right and left ears. Upon reviewing the record and the briefs of the parties, we conclude that this appeal is without merit. Accordingly, we summarily affirm the commission's decision. Rule 5A:27.
On January 13, 1992, the commission awarded Clark benefits for a nineteen percent permanent binaural loss of hearing to his right and left ears. The award was based upon Dr. Richard L. Fields' September 18, 1990 report. Dr. Fields opined that Clark suffered from a fifteen percent hearing loss to the right ear and a forty-one percent hearing loss to the left ear, resulting in a binaural loss of nineteen percent.
Clark filed an application on November 15, 1993, alleging entitlement to benefits for additional permanent hearing loss. His application was based upon Dr. Fields' March 25, 1992 report that Clark suffered from a 13.3 percent hearing loss to the left ear and a 41.7 percent to 43.3 percent hearing loss to the right ear. Employer submitted calculations showing that these figures resulted in a binaural loss of 18.25 percent. Clark did not submit evidence to dispute employer's calculation.
Credible evidence supports the commission's finding that Clark had already been compensated for the hearing loss alleged in his November 15, 1993 application. Accordingly, the commission did not err in denying Clark's application.
Clark's reliance on our decision in Bader v. Norfolk Redev. Hous. Auth., 10 Va. App. 697, 396 S.E.2d 141 (1990), is misplaced. In Bader, we remanded the case for the commission to make appropriate findings concerning its decision to use the ANSI guidelines rather than the AMA guidelines for determining the employee's hearing loss. Id. at 703, 396 S.E.2d at 145. Clark has raised no issue concerning the appropriateness of the guidelines used by the commission. Moreover, the commission considered all the medical evidence in determining the percentage of Clark's hearing loss.
For the reasons stated, we affirm the commission's decision.
Affirmed.