(under state's apportionment statute, "the judge was required to give the employer credit for the functional loss attributable to cigarette smoking when that loss can be quantified" with respect to claimant with 25 percent partial disability resulting from asbestosis and bronchitis), cert. denied, 105 N.J. 531, 523 A.2d 172 (1986); cf. Fry's Food Stores of Arizona v. Industrial Commission, 177 Ariz. 264, 266-68, 866 P.2d 1350 (1994) (disability for worker with both smoking-related chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and "baker's lung" was fully compensable and not subject to apportionment because although nonoccupational illness caused lung "impairment," "baker's lung" was "`proverbial last straw'" that resulted in claimant's total disability, or inability to work). By way of illustration, we disagree with the analyses in Jenkins v. Halstead Industries, 17 Ark. App. 197, 706 S.W.2d 191 (1986), Anderson v. Brinkhoff, 859 P.2d 819 (Colo. 1993), and Forte v. Fernando Originals, Ltd., 667 A.2d 780 (R.I. 1995), wherein the courts apportioned awards in cases involving a disability that resulted from a single disease that was caused by multiple factors, some of which were not occupational. In Jenkins, the court upheld an apportionment of the claimant's disability payments, which was attributable only to a single diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, based on 92 percent to his smoking and 8 percent to his occupational exposure to chemical fumes and talc dust. Jenkins v. Halstead Industries, supra, 201.
528, 530, 507 A.2d 1209 (App. Div.) (under state's apportionment statute, "the judge was required to give the employer credit for the functional loss attributable to cigarette smoking when that loss can be quantified" with respect to claimant with 25 percent partial disability resulting from asbestosis and bronchitis), cert. denied, 105 N.J. 531, 523 A.2d 172 (1986); cf. Fry's Food Stores of Arizona v. Industrial Commission, 111 Ariz. 264, 266-68, 866 P.2d 1350 (1994) (disability for worker with both smoking-related chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and "baker's lung" was fully compensable and not subject to apportionment because although nonoccupational illness caused lung "impairment," "baker's lung" was "'proverbial last straw'" that resulted in claimant's total disability, or inability to work). By way of illustration, we disagree with the analyses in Jenkins v. Halstead Industries, 17 Ark. App. 197, 706 S.W.2d 191 (1986), Anderson v. Brinkhoff, 859 P.2d 819 (Colo. 1993), and Forte v. Fernando Originals, Ltd., 667 A.2d 780 (R.I. 1995), wherein the courts apportioned awards in cases involving a disability that resulted from a single disease that was caused by multiple factors, some of which were not occupational. In Jenkins, the court upheld an apportionment of the claimant's disability payments, which was attributable only to a single diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, based on 92 percent to his smoking and 8 percent to his occupational exposure to chemical fumes and talc dust.
Moreover, if such evidence exists, the findings of the tribunal, in this case the Appellate Division, are binding upon this Court, absent fraud. Forte v. Fernando Originals, Ltd., 667 A.2d 780, 782 (R.I. 1995) (citingFalvey v. Women and Infants Hospital, 584 A.2d 417, 419 (R.I. 1991)). Appellate Division's Jurisdiction to Reverse Trial Court Award
We do not weigh the evidence, but rather, we review the record to "determine whether legally competent evidence supports the findings of the tribunal whose decision is under review, in this case, the Appellate Division." Forte v. Fernando Originals, Ltd., 667 A.2d 780, 782 (R.I. 1995). Where such evidence exists, the Appellate Division's findings will be binding upon this Court, absent fraud.
This Court's standard of review on certiorari is not to weigh the evidence, but to review the record to determine whether legally competent evidence exists to support the findings of the Appellate Division. See Forte v. Fernando Originals, Ltd., 667 A.2d 780, 782 (R.I. 1995). Upon review of the record in this case, we conclude that the Appellate Division did not err in holding that Rezendes had failed to meet the requirements for SAE.
This Court reviews the factual findings of the Appellate Division of the Workers' Compensation Court "to determine whether legally competent evidence supports [its] findings[.] * * * If such evidence exists, the Appellate Division's findings are binding upon this [C]ourt, absent fraud." Forte v. Fernando Originals, Ltd., 667 A.2d 780, 782 (R.I. 1995). Award of Interest