Amazon Worker Injured Due to Repetitive Tasks Loses Workers’ Compensation Bid

An Amazon distribution center worker in Virginia whose job entailed repetitive lifting and stowing of items all day and who suffered rotator cuff tears has been denied workers’ compensation benefits because she failed to prove her injury resulted from an identifiable incident or sudden event.

“A condition that results from cumulative trauma is not a compensable injury by accident,” the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission (VWCC) wrote in a recent ruling, explaining that such injuries are not compensable under the state’s workers’ compensation law “because the employee can point to no accident, identifiable incident, or sudden precipitating event to which the injury can be attributed.”

The panel was affirming a deputy VWCC commissioner’s decision denying medical and disability benefits for the injured Amazon worker.

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The VWCC acknowledged that the evidence proved her injury was caused by repetitive and cumulative tasks at work. However, that was not enough. “She must show that an identifiable incident occurred at some reasonably definite time and resulted in a mechanical bodily change,” the commission stressed.

The VWCC said it found the evidence supported the deputy commissioner’s conclusion that her condition was the result of non-compensable cumulative trauma.

Claimant’s Testimony

The claimant said that during her shift one day last July, she was lifting items of varying weights and placing them in their assigned locations. Some items weighed 20 and 50 pounds. During the lifting, her arm became sore. She thought it was the “wear and tear” of the day. She stopped work at 5:00 pm and did not complete her shift. She went home and went to bed. When she awoke the next morning, she could not move her arm. She reported her injury through the employer’s reporting app.

She was diagnosed with two rotator cuff tears for which she received injections, physical therapy, and medication.

The warehouse worker told the claims adjuster and also testified at the hearing that lifting and stowing items repetitively for 35 hours over four days of work caused her injury.

On review, however, the claimant suggested her injury occurred when she lifted a particular 50-pound item. The VWCC said there was no evidence to support this explanation and it was not substantiated by her own testimony at her hearing.

The Amazon worker had sought medical benefits and temporary total disability from July 30, 2023 through December 6, 2023. Because of her injury, she was unable to return to work at Amazon. She was released to return to work beginning December 7, 2023 and thereafter looked for light duty work.

The decision may be appealed to the Virginia Court of Appeals.