Stahl v. Exxon Corp.

• Decision Date: 01 July 2002
• Docket Number: No. CIV.A. H-99-3029.,CIV.A. H-99-3029.
• Citation: 212 F.Supp.2d 657
• Parties: Beverly Ann STAHL, Plaintiff, v. EXXON CORPORATION, Exxon Mobil Annuity Plan, and Jacqueline Stahl, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Texas

212 F.Supp.2d 657

Beverly Ann STAHL, Plaintiff, v. EXXON CORPORATION, Exxon Mobil Annuity Plan, and Jacqueline Stahl, Defendants.

No. CIV.A. H-99-3029.

United States District Court, S.D. Texas.

July 1, 2002.

Ronald L. Marsh, Attorney at Law, Baytown, TX, for plaintiff.

David M. Rivet, Exxon Mobil Corp., Houston, TX, for defendants.

Jacqueline Stahl, Maxwell, TX, pro se.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

CRONE, United States Magistrate Judge.

Pending before the court is Defendant ExxonMobil Corporation, formerly known as Exxon Corporation ("Exxon"), and Defendant ExxonMobil Pension Plan's, formerly known as Exxon Annuity Plan ("the Plan"), motion for summary judgment (# 30). In this action, Plaintiff Beverly Ann Robertson, formerly Beverly Ann Stahl ("Beverly"), claims she is entitled to one-half the proceeds of a Surviving Spouse Annuity ("SSA") following the death of her former husband, Andrew Jackson Stahl ("Andrew"). In response, Exxon and the Plan claim that Andrew's wife at the time of his death, Defendant Jacqueline Stahl ("Jacqueline"), is entitled to the benefits because Beverly failed to obtain a valid Qualified Domestic Relations Order ("QDRO") before Andrew's death. Having reviewed the pending motion, the submissions of the parties, the pleadings, and the applicable law, the court is of the opinion that summary judgment is warranted.

I. Background

Andrew began working for Exxon on January 3, 1979, when he was married to Beverly. While working at Exxon, Andrew participated in a "Qualified Joint and Survivor Annuity" plan ("annuity plan"), which provides benefits to Exxon employees when they reach retirement age. The minimum retirement age at Exxon is fifty-five years of age, although, for employees who have worked at Exxon for at least five years, they are eligible to begin receiving benefits at age fifty. In the situation where an employee dies prior to receiving any benefits, the annuity plan provides for the employee's surviving spouse to receive, when the employee would have reached age fifty, fifty percent of the benefits earmarked for the employee, which is known as the SSA component of the annuity plan. In addition to the annuity plan, Andrew also participated in a thrift fund through Exxon, which operates as a type of savings plan. Both benefits vested after five years of employment and were managed for Exxon by the Plan.

Andrew and Beverly divorced on December 22, 1989. The divorce decree contains provisions purporting to dispose of both the annuity and thrift fund benefits accrued by Andrew during his marriage to Beverly. The decree, along with a proposed QDRO,¹ was submitted to Exxon at the time of the divorce but was rejected by the Plan on January 18, 1990, as an invalid QDRO because it did not clearly specify a distribution scheme for each type of benefit. On January 26, 1990, Andrew married Jacqueline, to whom he remained married until his death on July 16, 1997.

Robert Marsh ("Marsh"), Beverly's attorney, and Michael Turner ("Turner"), Andrew's attorney, were both notified of the Plan's rejection of the documents. Marsh filed a revised decree of divorce, along with another proposed QDRO, with the Plan on February 14, 1990. The second attempted QDRO was rejected by the Plan on March 15, 1990, specifically because it did not list the correct name of either the annuity or thrift fund plans. The following day, March 16, 1990, Andrew resigned from Exxon.

On September 4, 1990, after Andrew's resignation, Turner re-filed the same paperwork as previously submitted on February 14, 1990, which was again rejected by the Plan for the same reason. Later that year, a subsequent QDRO was submitted, containing language relating only to the thrift fund. The QDRO includes no provisions addressing the annuity plan and accompanying SSA benefit. This QDRO was accepted, and a check for the proceeds of the thrift fund was issued to Beverly on November 27, 1990.

Andrew died in a plane crash on July 16, 1997, at the age of forty-eight — two years prior to the earliest commencement of annuity plan benefits. During the time period between the acceptance of the thrift fund QDRO and Andrew's death, no additional domestic relations orders were forwarded to the Plan, and no attempt was made to challenge the Plan's rejection of the previously-filed orders relating to the annuity plan. On August 11, 1997, Jacqueline was informed of her potential eligibility for SSA benefits and submitted the paperwork requested by Exxon.

On October 1, 1997, Marsh made inquiries of the Plan regarding Beverly's interest in the SSA. On January 12, 1998, the Plan informed Marsh that because no valid QDRO was in place, Beverly had no enforceable claim to SSA benefits. On June 9, 1998, Marsh submitted a fourth proposed QDRO relating to the annuity plan, which the Plan rejected on July 9, 1998, because it was entered after Andrew's death. It is undisputed that all other technical requirements of a valid QDRO were met. Marsh appealed the rejection of the fourth proposed QDRO pursuant to the Plan's administrative review procedure, and on July 19, 2001, the appeal was denied. By letter dated January 3, 2002, Marsh was notified that the Plan had also reviewed the first three alleged QDROs relating to the annuity plan and had found them not to contain the necessary components of a valid QDRO. In addition, the letter pointed out that none of the proffered QDROs specifically stated that Beverly was to be considered the surviving spouse upon Andrew's death.

Beverly filed suit in August 1999, requesting that Exxon, through the Plan, be ordered to pay her the SSA benefits accrued during Andrew's employment with Exxon until November 29, 1989, the date stipulated in the divorce decree. In the alternative, Beverly requests the court to declare valid the first three purported QDROs submitted to the Plan and order Exxon to pay Beverly her interest in the annuity plan. Also, in the alternative, Beverly asks the court to enter such orders as deemed necessary to enforce the divorce decree and require the Plan Administrator or "any other Alternate Payee" to act as a constructive trustee to facilitate the payment of the annuity benefits directly to Beverly.

II. Analysis

A. Summary Judgment Standard

Rule 56(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that summary judgment "shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." FED. R. CIV. P. 56(c). The parties seeking summary judgment bear the initial burden of informing the court of the basis for their motion and identifying those portions of the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, admissions on file, and affidavits, if any, which they believe demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247-48, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Colson v. Grohman, 174 F.3d 498, 506 (5th Cir.1999); Marshall v. East Carroll Parish Hosp. Serv. Dist., 134 F.3d 319, 321 (5th Cir.1998); Wenner v. Texas Lottery Comm'n, 123 F.3d 321, 324 (5th Cir.1997), cert. denied, 523 U.S. 1073, 118 S.Ct. 1514, 140 L.Ed.2d 667 (1998). A material fact is one that might affect the outcome of the suit under governing law. See Burgos v. Southwestern Bell Tel. Co., 20 F.3d 633, 635 (5th Cir.1994). A genuine issue of material fact exists "if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party." Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505. The moving parties, however, need not negate the elements of the nonmovant's case. See Wallace v. Texas Tech Univ., 80 F.3d 1042, 1047 (5th Cir.1996) (citing Little v. Liquid Air Corp., 37 F.3d 1069, 1075 (5th Cir.1994)).

Once a proper motion has been made, the nonmoving party may not rest upon mere allegations or denials in the pleadings but must present affirmative evidence, setting forth specific facts, to show the existence of a genuine issue for trial. See Celotex Corp., 477 U.S. at 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548; Anderson, 477 U.S. at 257, 106 S.Ct. 2505; Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 585-86, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986); Rushing v. Kansas City S. Ry. Co., 185 F.3d 496, 505 (5th Cir.1999), cert. denied, 528 U.S. 1160, 120 S.Ct. 1171, 145 L.Ed.2d 1080 (2000); Colson, 174 F.3d at 506, Marshall, 134 F.3d at 321-22; Wallace, 80 F.3d at 1047; Little, 37 F.3d at 1075. "[T]he court must review the record `taken as a whole.'" Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., Inc., 530 U.S. 133, 150, 120 S.Ct. 2097, 147 L.Ed.2d 105 (2000) (quoting Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co., 475 U.S. at 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348). All the evidence must be construed "in the light most favorable to the non-moving party without weighing the evidence, assessing its probative value, or resolving any factual disputes." Williams v. Time Warner Operation, Inc., 98 F.3d 179, 181 (5th Cir.1996) (citing Lindsey v. Prive Corp., 987 F.2d 324, 327 n. 14 (5th Cir.1993)); see Reeves, 530 U.S. at 150, 120 S.Ct. 2097; Colson, 174 F.3d at 506; Marshall, 134 F.3d at 321; Messer v. Meno, 130 F.3d 130, 134 (5th Cir.1997), cert. denied, 525 U.S. 1067, 119 S.Ct. 794, 142 L.Ed.2d 657 (1999); Hart v. O'Brien, 127 F.3d 424, 435 (5th Cir.1997), cert. denied, 525 U.S. 1103, 119 S.Ct. 868, 142 L.Ed.2d 770 (1999). "The evidence of the nonmovant is to be believed, and all justifiable inferences are to be drawn in his favor." Anderson, 477 U.S. at 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505; Palmer v. BRG of Ga., Inc., 498 U.S. 46, 49 n. 5, 111 S.Ct. 401, 112 L.Ed.2d 349 (1990); see Christopher Vill. Ltd. P'ship v. Retsinas, 190 F.3d 310, 314 (5th Cir.1999); Samuel v. Holmes, 138 F.3d 173, 176 (5th Cir. 1998); Marshall, 134 F.3d at 321....