Opinion
Docket No. 18177.
Decided August 28, 1974.
Appeal from the Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board. Submitted Division 1 June 5, 1974, at Detroit. (Docket No. 18177.) Decided August 28, 1974.
Claim by Joseph Jones against Douglas Lomason and Michigan Mutual Liability Company for workmen's compensation benefits. Benefits granted. Defendants appeal on leave granted. Affirmed.
Seymour Beitner, for plaintiff.
LeVasseur, Werner, Mitseff Brown (by Lawrence D. Egan), for defendants.
This is an appeal by defendant Douglas Lomason from the Michigan Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board's affirmance of a referee's award of benefits to plaintiff-appellee Jones. The findings that Jones was injured and that his injury was compensable under the Workmen's Compensation Act are not contested here. The sole issue presented for review is whether "notice of the injury [was] given to the employer within 3 months after the happening thereof".
MCLA 412.15; MSA 17.165, now identically MCLA 418.381; MSA 17.237(381).
The determination of that issue is a question of fact for the appeal board. See Williams v Chrysler Corp, 29 Mich. App. 398, 401; 185 N.W.2d 403, 404 (1971), and cases cited therein. The appeal board held that "[t]he defendant's defenses of failure of notice is [sic] not well taken". The board thus impliedly found that the notice provision had been complied with. Accordingly, we must affirm this finding if it is supported by any evidence. Fergus v Chrysler Corp, 45 Mich. App. 196, 199; 206 N.W.2d 521, 522 (1973), rev'd on other grounds, 389 Mich. 811 (1973); Williams v Chrysler Corp, supra.
There is ample evidence in the record to satisfy this narrow standard of review. Jones' uncontradicted testimony indicates that he informed the company foreman of a back injury minutes after its occurrence. Notice to the foreman is notice to the employer and sufficient to meet the demands of MCLA 418.381; MSA 17.237(381). Norris v Chrysler Corp, 391 Mich. 469, 476; 216 N.W.2d 783 (1974); Banks v Packard Motor Car Co, 328 Mich. 513; 44 N.W.2d 166 (1950); West v Northern Tree Co, 365 Mich. 402; 112 N.W.2d 423 (1961). Moreover, Douglas Lomason received word within the statutory time limit that Jones had been treated and hospitalized for a back injury and that a hemilaminectomy had been performed. Such information, in addition to the notice given the foreman, was ample to make Douglas Lomason "aware that an injury has been sustained". Norris, supra, at p 477.
The opinion of the appeal board is affirmed.
Affirmed. Costs to appellee.