Kraft Dairy Group, Inc. v. Bernardini

This appeal requires us to reexamine the question whether an injury caused by cumulative trauma due to repetitive exertions amounts to an “injury by accident,” as specified by Code § 65.1-7, thus becoming compensable under the Workers’ Compensation Act.

Ann M. Bernardini, the claimant, had been employed for about three years by Kraft Dairy Group, Inc., in a plant manufacturing ice cream. In April 1983, she was assigned to new duties which involved removing from a production line cellophane-wrapped bundles of four half-gallon containers of ice cream and stacking them on a wooden pallet. When…