VENTURA : Councilman Plans to Fight Labor Fine

Ventura City Councilman Greg Carson said he will fight an $8,000 fine slapped on his gardening business by state labor inspectors who charged he is operating without workers’ compensation insurance.

Carson said Saturday that he arrived back in Ventura on Friday after a trip to Europe and discovered that state labor officials had inspected records and interviewed employees at his Mound Garden Center, and had determined that the business was not insured for workers’ compensation.

Carson admitted that his workers’ compensation insurance had lapsed, but blamed it on a technical error. He said he was aware that the insurance company had canceled his policy some time ago, but said that the cancellation was an accident and he thought his bookkeeper had taken care of the problem.

“My bookkeeper didn’t follow up on it,” he said.

“I’m not thrilled about the whole thing.”

Carson said he arranged for insurance Friday.

Carson also said inspectors wrongly calculated how many employees he has, telling him he owes $1,000 each for eight employees. He said Saturday he has only five employees.

“My manager wasn’t in, I was away,” Carson said. “(The inspectors) wouldn’t wait to talk to either of us. They pushed for information from lower-level employees who don’t know what is going on.”