Exxon Worker’s Lump Sum Pension Challenge Rejected on Appeal

Exxon Mobil Corp. defeated a Fifth Circuit appeal by a former employee who said he was wrongly denied about $60,000 in pension benefits, along with extra pay for working nights.

The worker’s breach of contract claim over his lump sum pension payout is preempted by the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act and therefore fails, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit said Monday in an unpublished opinion. The worker also lost his bid for several years’ worth of shift-differential pay because he didn’t show that Exxon’s policy on these payments was meant to be retroactive beyond ...