Abraham v. Exxon Corporation

JERRY E. SMITH, Circuit Judge:

Plaintiffs N. Mark Abraham and others (collectively “Abraham”) appeal a summary judgment in favor of Exxon Corporation and the Benefit Plan of Exxon Corporation (collectively “Exxon”) on their ERISA 1 claims. We affirm in part and vacate and remand in part.

I

The plaintiffs are “leased” or “special agreement” employees of Exxon who work at Exxon facilities. They are similar to ordinary Exxon employees in many ways: They report to Exxon supervisors, have Exxon business cards, and play on the Exxon softball team. Exxon is not their direct employer, however. Instead,…