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★ Tennessee · workplace

Workplace settlements
in Tennessee.

By Reviewed by Abd Shanti, Founder9 min read

A work injury in Tennessee usually leads to two separate claims. Workers’ compensation from your employer pays two thirds of your wage and your medical care without any need to prove fault, and a lawsuit against anyone else who caused the injury can recover what compensation does not.

Facts that decide a workplace claim in Tennessee

Weekly benefit, injuries from 1 July 2026Two thirds of your average weekly wage, up to $1,488.30 for temporary disability and $1,353.00 for permanent disability, with a minimum of $202.95.Tennessee Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, compensation rates
Injuries from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026Maximum $1,426.70 temporary and $1,297.00 permanent, minimum $194.55.Tennessee Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, compensation rates
Waiting periodBenefits start on the eighth day of disability, and the first seven days are paid back if the disability lasts 14 days.Tennessee Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, temporary disability benefits
Permanent partial disability450 weeks times your impairment rating times your compensation rate. This is the original award.Tennessee Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, Explanation of Benefits
If you do not go back to workIf you have not returned at the same or higher pay when the award period ends, the award is multiplied by 1.35, and further by 1.45 without a high school diploma or GED, 1.2 if you were over 40, and 1.3 for high county unemployment. You must file within one year after the period ends.Tennessee Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, Explanation of Benefits
Suing a third partyA third party you sue cannot blame your immune employer’s share of fault to reduce what it owes.Troup v. Fischer Steel Corp. (Tenn. 2007)
The employer’s lienYour employer or its insurer recovers what it paid in benefits from a third party recovery, in full, whatever its own fault.Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-6-112(c), as explained in Troup (Tenn. 2007)
united states · sister site
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★ TN · reported workplace outcomes

What Tennessee courts have awarded.

Real Tennessee decisions and verdicts, each linked to the court record or official report.

  • Borne v. Celadon Trucking Services
    Tennessee Supreme Court · 2017
    $3,705,000 jury verdict

    A tanker driver working for his employer was rear ended by another company’s tractor trailer and developed a lumbar disc herniation. Because the other truck’s owner was a third party, he could sue it in addition to his compensation claim. The trial judge reduced the verdict and the Supreme Court sent that reduction back for an explanation.

  • Troup v. Fischer Steel Corp.
    Tennessee Supreme Court · 2007
    Liability ruling

    A worker fell 30 to 35 feet through a hole to a concrete floor on a construction job and sued a company other than his employer. The Supreme Court held that company could not reduce its share by blaming the principal contractor, which the compensation law protected, though it could argue that contractor was the only cause.

  • Jordan v. BNSF Railway
    Tennessee Court of Appeals · 2009
    $4,000,000 verdict

    Railroad workers are covered by a federal statute instead of state workers’ compensation and can sue their employer for negligence. A worker hurt in a two train collision recovered a $4 million verdict against his employer, which was affirmed in part.

★ TN · workplace · in practice

What changes the number here.

What actually moves a workplace settlement in Tennessee.

  1. 1

    Compensation alone rarely makes a serious injury whole. The weekly benefit stops at two thirds of your wage and is capped, and there is nothing for pain and suffering. That is why the first question after a serious work injury is whether someone other than your employer contributed: another driver, an equipment maker, or a contractor on the same site.

  2. 2

    A third party suit changes the arithmetic. Borne was a compensation case for his employer and a jury case against the other trucking company at the same time. The employer’s insurer is repaid from the third party recovery, but the verdict can reach damages compensation never pays.

  3. 3

    The return to work rule is where permanent awards grow. A worker with a 10% rating earning the maximum rate receives 45 weeks of benefits as the original award; if he has not returned at his old pay when that period ends, the award is multiplied by 1.35 and possibly by the education, age, and unemployment factors. Missing the one year deadline to ask for that increase forfeits it.

★ TN · statute of limitations
1 year from date of injury, among the shortest in the US

Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104

★ TN · fault rule
Modified comparative, 50% bar

Modified comparative, recovery barred at 50% claimant fault under McIntyre v. Balentine (1992).

★ TN · caps

What caps recovery.

Statutory caps that may bear on a workplace settlement in Tennessee.

★ workplace · same region & fault regime

Compare to like jurisdictions.

How Tennessee's fault rule and limitation period compare to jurisdictions in the same US region and to those running the same fault rule for workplace claims.

JurisdictionFault ruleLimitationWorkplace page
Tennessee · you are hereModified comparative, 50% bar1 year from date of injury, among the shortest in the US—
TexasModified comparative, 51% bar2 years from date of injuryTX · workplace →
VirginiaPure contributory negligence2 years from date of injuryVA · workplace →
West VirginiaModified comparative, 51% bar2 years from date of injuryWV · workplace →
AlabamaPure contributory negligence2 years from date of injuryAL · workplace →
ArkansasModified comparative, 50% bar3 years for personal injury; 2 years for medical malpracticeAR · workplace →
FloridaModified comparative, 51% bar2 years from date of injury (was 4; reduced by HB 837)FL · workplace →
UtahModified comparative, 50% bar4 years for personal injury; 2 years for medical malpracticeUT · workplace →
ColoradoModified comparative, 50% bar2 years for personal injury; 3 years for motor vehicleCO · workplace →
GeorgiaModified comparative, 50% bar2 years from date of injuryGA · workplace →
IdahoModified comparative, 50% bar2 years from date of injuryID · workplace →
VermontModified comparative, 51% bar3 years from date of injuryVT · workplace →
WashingtonPure comparative negligence3 years from date of injuryWA · workplace →
★ TN · workplace · frequently asked

Common questions.

Each answer is independently coherent and references the relevant statute or authority document.

united states · sister site
Hurt at work in Tennessee? See what your own claim could be worth.

FairSettlement, our US sister site, gives you a free estimate in about two minutes. No cost and no obligation.

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Sources

Checked 2026-09-28.

★ all of TN
Tennessee overview

Fault rule, statute, caps, and key facts for Tennessee as a whole.

★ national frame
Workplace in United States

Workplace band structure and severity tiers at the US level.

★ all 15 countries
Workplace · everywhere

Cross-jurisdiction comparison of workplace bands.

★ editorial note

Figures on this page are not quotes for any specific case. For representation, consult an attorney admitted in Tennessee. See /methodology, /sources, and /disclaimer.