Opinion ID: 2467453
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: timeliness of morgan's claim

Text: When Morgan's injury occurred, the Workers' Compensation Act provided that an injured employee could not initiate a proceeding for compensation or medical benefits unless he either filed a claim before the Industrial Accident Board within six months of his injury or showed good cause for filing an untimely claim. TEX. REV.CIV.STAT.ANN. art. 8307, § 4a (Vernon 1967): see Lee v. Houston Fire and Casualty Ins. Co., 530 S.W.2d 294, 296 (Tex.1975). In this case, the jury found that Morgan was injured on June 28, 1979. The trial court determined that, as a matter of law, Morgan filed a claim with the Industrial Accident Board on July 22, 1980. Neither of these findings is disputed by either party. However, Standard does contend that there is no evidence to support the jury's finding that Morgan had good cause for filing her claim nearly 13 months after her injury. We disagree. In determining whether there is any evidence to support a jury's finding, an appellate court must consider only the evidence and the inferences tending to support the finding and disregard all evidence and inferences to the contrary. Garza v. Alviar, 395 S.W.2d 821, 823 (Tex.1965). In addition, this court has always recognized that because the injured employee, coming under the terms of the Workers' Compensation Act, is denied his common law rights, the Act should be liberally construed in the worker's favor. Navarette v. Temple Indep. School Dist., 706 S.W.2d 308, 309 (Tex.1986). Morgan testified that, at the time of her injury, her employer promised that everything would be taken care of. On the basis of this testimony, the jury could properly conclude that Morgan reasonably believed that her employer would file her claim before the Industrial Accident Board in a timely manner. See Lee, 530 S.W.2d at 297 (reliance on employer's statements may constitute good cause for filing late). We therefore affirm the court of appeals' judgment to the extent it held that there was some evidence of good cause for Morgan's late filing.