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We just&nbsp;wrote about a recent case in which a court refused to certify a class of Wal-Mart loss prevention employees.&nbsp; See Bramble v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Case No. 09-04932 (E.D. Pa. Apr. 11, 2011).&nbsp; In the Bramble case, the court found that the duties of the employees were simply too diverse to justify even conditional certification.&nbsp; Only two days later, another court denied certification of an even harder case against rival retailer Target.&nbsp; In <a href="https://employmentclassactionreport.bakerhostetlerblogs.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2011/04/Mullins-v.-Target-Corp.pdf">Mullins v. Target Corp.pdf</a>., Case No. 09-7353 (N.D. Ill. Apr. 13, 2011), the plaintiff was an "investigator" for Target, and she claimed that she had been misclassified as exempt under the FLSA.&nbsp; Her case was somewhat more difficult from the employer's standpoint because she had no managerial duties and the only potentially applicable exemption was the administrative exemption.&nbsp; In Bramble, the employer appeared to have the easier executive exemption available.&nbsp; &nbsp;Like the Wal-Mart plaintiff,&nbsp;the plaintiff in Mullins&nbsp;sought to represent a class of those like her nationwide, and she also moved for conditional certification under section 16(b) of the FLSA.&nbsp; She fared even worse, however, because the court granted summary judgment against her. The court analyzed the plaintiff's duties and found that her investigative activities did satisfy the administrative exemption.&nbsp; It rejected the plaintiff's arguments that she did not possess the necessary discretion and decision making authority because she frequently needed to consult with and make recommendations to her superior.&nbsp; Because it found that the administrative exemption applied, it dismissed her claims and found the motion for conditional certification to be moot. The Bottom Line:&nbsp; The Court won't even reach the issue of conditional certification if it finds the named plaintiff's claims to be unviable.

Another Court Denies Certification of a Class of Retail Loss Prevention Associates