Record No. 1145-96-1Court of Appeals of Virginia. Norfolk.
November 26, 1996
Appeal from the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission.
Ingrid E. Olson, Assistant Attorney General (James S. Gilmore, III, Attorney General; Gregory Lucyk, Senior Assistant Attorney General, on brief), for appellant.
Karen M. Rye (Melody L. Cockrell, on brief), for appellee.
Present: Judges Baker, Benton and Overton.
MEMORANDUM OPINION[*]
JUDGE JAMES W. BENTON, JR.
The Virginia Department of Transportation appeals from a decision of the Workers’ Compensation Commission denying the Department’s request to suspend an award of compensation to Franklin D. Meade. The Department raises three issues, which collectively assert that Meade was ineligible for workers’ compensation benefits because Meade was receiving “wages” pursuant to the Workforce Transition Act.
For the reasons cogently stated in Department of Transp. v.Swiney, ___ Va. App. ___, ___ S.E.2d ___ (1996), we hold that payments made pursuant to the Workforce Transition Act are not “wages” for purposes of the Workers’ Compensation Act. “The payments made [to Meade] pursuant to the [Workforce Transition Act] agreement . . . were not for work performed or services rendered to [the Department] in anticipation of compensation, but were to induce [Meade] not to perform work for [the Department].”Id. at ___, ___ S.E.2d at ___. Accordingly, we affirm the commission’s decision.
Affirmed.