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Amanda Bolliger
Partner
Amanda is a seasoned litigator who has successfully led the defense of many dozens of single-plaintiff equal employment cases throughout the West Coast in her career. She also has defended numerous PAGA and putative class actions, as well as systemic agency investigations, alleging unequal pay, disparate treatment in promotions and terminations/reductions in force, and a host of wage/hour claims. Amanda has a particularly strong track record of negotiating favorable settlements early in litigation where that is advantageous to the client — both through informal discussions and mediation. Amanda also regularly counsels clients on personnel processes and decisions in order to mitigate the risks of future litigation.
Before she joined GBG to help launch its Los Angeles office in 2016, Amanda spent nearly ten years in employment defense practice at two national law firms – first Paul Hastings and then Ogletree Deakins. Amanda also clerked for the Chief Judge of the District of Oregon, the Honorable Ancer L. Haggerty, before entering private practice.
Education
- University of Southern California School of Law, J.D., 2006 (Order of the Coif, Law Review)
- University of San Francisco, B.A., 2001, summa cum laude
Key Practice Experience
- Equal employment opportunity claims of wrongful termination, failure to promote, failure to hire, retaliation, unequal pay (including California Equal Pay Act cases), and harassment based on race, national origin, gender/sex, sexual orientation, age and disability
- Claims alleging violation of state and federal leave laws, failure to accommodate, and failure to engage in the interactive process
- Cases alleging defamation and other tort claims related to termination, investigation and other personnel communications
- State and federal whistleblowing claims, including under False Claims Act, Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank
- Wage and hour claims alleging independent contractor misclassification, misclassification for purposes of exempt status, missed meal and rest periods, minimum wage violations, inadequate pay stubs, failure to reimburse business expenses and unlawful deductions
- Public accommodation discrimination claims
Key Industries
- Healthcare
- Technology
- Financial services
- Retail
- Manufacturing
- Entertainment
Representative Litigation
- Managing day-to-day defense, large-scale document preservation, discovery and class settlement negotiation/approval for putative class actions filed against healthcare industry client alleging race/national origin-based-discrimination in promotions and terminations
- Defending tech and healthcare industry clients against systemic agency investigations of alleged discrimination related to pay, promotions and reductions in force
- Led defense of and settlement negotiations for overlapping PAGA representative actions against financial services client alleging missed meal and rest periods, minimum wage violations, incomplete pay stubs and failure to reimburse business expenses
- Deposed named plaintiffs and managed and executed declaration projects to obtain evidence used to defeat class certification and negotiate favorable settlements in multiple wage-and-hour class actions
- Won summary judgment in a wrongful termination case alleging retaliation, harassment, and discrimination based on race, age and disability
- Prepared successful summary judgment motion and deposed the plaintiff in a case alleging unequal pay and discrimination based on race/national origin and gender and retaliation
- Obtained walk-away settlement after taking the plaintiff’s deposition in case alleging pay discrimination, retaliation, and discrimination based on national origin/race and age
Amanda regularly writes, speaks, and trains employers on a host of Human Resources issues, including the laws on discrimination, harassment, leaves, and disability and best practices for responding to administrative complaints and conducting internal investigations.
Recognitions & Honors
- Top Rated Employment Litigation Attorney in San Francisco (2016)
- Rising Star, Northern California Super Lawyers (2016 and 2017); Oregon Super Lawyers (2012 – 2015)
- Order of the Coif (2006)
- Southern California Law Review (2004-2005)