According to the law of Tennessee, a principal contractor, intermediate contractor or subcontractor shall be liable for compensation to any employee injured while in their employment. Any of the subcontractors of the principal contractor, intermediate contractor or subcontractor engaged in the contract may be liable to the same extent as the immediate employer.
Every claim for compensation shall be in the first instance presented to and instituted against the immediate employer. Nevertheless, the proceedings shall not constitute a waiver of the employee’s rights to recover compensation from the principal contractor or intermediate contractor.
The collection of full compensation from one employer shall bar recovery by the employee against any others. The employee shall not collect from all a total compensation in excess of the amount for which any of the contractors is liable. This section applies only in cases where the injury occurred in the premises on which the principal contractor has undertaken to execute work.
The contractor who becomes liable for such compensation to the injured employee may recover the same from such principal contractor, subcontractor or intermediate contractor for whom the employee was working at the time of the injury [i]
[i] Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-6-113
