BRIAN COBLENTZ ET AL. v. TRACTOR SUPPLY COMPANY - Articles

All Content

BRIAN COBLENTZ ET AL. v. TRACTOR SUPPLY COMPANY

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Feb 20, 2026

Court: TN Court of Appeals

Attorneys 1: William Bliss Hicky and Sarah Michelle Ingalls, and Morgan Juliana Hartgrove, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellants, Brian Coblentz and Cayce Coblentz.

Attorneys 2: Richard Colten Jones and Marshall T. Cook, Hendersonville, Tennessee, for the appellee, Tractor Supply Company.

Judge(s): BENNETT

This is a premises liability case brought by a sales representative for a product vendor who was injured while in a Tractor Supply store performing his job. The trial court entered summary judgment in favor of Tractor Supply. On appeal, this Court affirmed the trial court’s decision based upon the conclusion that Tractor Supply was the statutory employer of the sales representative under Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-6-113(a) and was, therefore, shielded by the exclusive remedy provision of the workers’ compensation statutes. The Tennessee Supreme Court granted permission to appeal, concluded that Tractor Supply was not the sales representative’s statutory employer, and remanded the case to this Court to consider the pretermitted issues. We have determined that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment to Tractor Supply on the issue of whether Tractor Supply owed a duty of care to the sales representative. We vacate and remand for further proceedings.

Attachments: