Taylor v. Dep’t of Industrial Relations, 4 Cal. App. 5th 801 (2016)

Following an inspection, the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (“DLSE”) discovered that Aaron’s Automotive (“Taylor”) had been in operation since 2007 but had never acquired workers’ compensation insurance coverage as required by Labor Code § 3700. The DLSE issued a Penalty Assessment Order, assessing a penalty against Taylor in the amount of $179,329.60. The Court of Appeal rejected Taylor’s construction of Labor Code § 3722(b), involving the meaning of being uninsured during the calendar year preceding the determination and concluded that “even if Taylor’s statutory interpretation is correct, the penalty assessed by the DLSE in this case would not be invalidated. Nor would the amount of the penalty imposed be any less.”