Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department v. Mitchell

Opinion

ELDER, J.

The Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department (the Department) contends that the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission* erred in awarding occupational disease benefits to William Harrison Mitchell, claimant, who was employed as an emergency medical services lieutenant. The sole issue on appeal is whether the employer’s evidence rebutted the presumption provided by Code § 65.1-47.1. We hold that, because the rebuttal evidence failed to exclude a work-related factor as a cause of the heart disease, the finding of the commission that the employer failed to rebut the…