Opinion ID: 172853
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Ms. Scruggs's Claim

Text: On August 2, 2005, Scruggs sent a letter to ExxonMobil claiming that she acted in the capacity of an employee [of ExxonMobil] for 22 years and therefore [was] entitled to compensation under Exxon's employee benefit plans. (Aplt.App.37.) ExxonMobil's Human Resources office denied Scruggs's request for benefits, explaining that Scruggs was not an eligible person as defined under any of the ExxonMobil benefit plans,i.e., not a `covered employee' under the various ExxonMobil benefit plansand therefore she was not entitled to any benefits. ( Id. at 42.) Scruggs appealed this decision to the plan administrator, Douglas F. Garrison, who denied Scruggs's appeal, determining that Scruggs was excluded from participation under the plans because she was a special-agreement person. ( Id. at 31-32.) A special-agreement person was defined under the plan as, inter alia, a person working for [ExxonMobil] pursuant to an agreement between [ExxonMobil] and a non-affiliated organization that pays the person's salary or wages, or [a person] employed by [ExxonMobil] under a written agreement with the person that specifically excludes the person from coverage for benefits. ( Id. at 32.) The plan administrator determined that Scruggs met this definition because during the entire time she performed services for Exxon she either worked for ExxonMobil pursuant to agreements between ExxonMobil and two non-affiliated organizations that paid her wages or she worked for ExxonMobil as an independent contractor, and [u]nder ExxonMobil's standard procurement process, all independent contractors enter into a standard-form written agreement that specifically excludes the person from coverage for benefits. ( Id. at 32.) Thus, the plan administrator concluded that Scruggs was a special-agreement person and, therefore, excluded from the definition of a covered employee under the plans.