Amanda C. Sommerfeld

Sommerfeld, a class and collective action defense litigator, said her practice has largely transitioned into complex class and representative actions with a focus on the transportation industry.

"Employment law was really appealing to me because it's relatable," Sommerfeld said, noting that her recent cases "involve arguably more interesting and evolving legal issues, particularly in some of the class cases involving transportation workers."

Sommerfeld was co-lead on a pair of class actions brought against the Union Pacific and BNSF railroads, which plaintiffs claimed had violated the state's rest period laws by not allowing their employees 10-minute breaks.

Her clients were each awarded summary judgment on the basis that California's rest period laws were superseded by federal law. Sumlin v. The BNSF Railway Company, 17-CV2364 (C.D. Cal., filed April 16, 2018); Fowler et al. v. Union Pacific Railroad Company, 17-CV02451 (C.D. Cal., filed Dec. 6, 2017).

"With the federal decision upholding class action waivers in arbitration agreements, we've seen an increase in non-class but representative Private Attorney General Act cases as a substitute for class action litigation," Sommerfeld said of a significant trend affecting her practice.

Private Attorney General Act cases "allow any aggrieved employee to step into the shoes of the state and pursue an action on behalf of all employees to enforce state wage-and-hour laws in a quasi-class action that doesn't need to meet any of the procedural hurdles of a class case," she explained.

Sommerfeld said the transportation industry is heavily regulated by federal law, such as those dealing in interstate commerce, and is becoming the source of a growing portion of class actions.

In a PAGA case involving the trucking industry, Sommerfeld secured her client a significant victory by convincing the court that one of the prongs of the state Supreme Court's "ABC" test was preempted by the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act, denying plaintiffs summary judgment. Valdez et al. v. CSX Intermodal Terminals Inc., 15-CV05433 (N.D. Cal., filed Nov. 25, 2015).

-- Carter Stoddard