Staffing Agency Ordered to Pay $650,000 For Workers’ Compensation Violations

Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced that temporary staffing agency Man Staffing, LLC will pay $650,000 in civil penalties and restitution for  failing to carry workers’ compensation insurance for its temporary employees from at least 2017  through 2023. 

“Man Staffing’s refusal to obtain workers’ compensation insurance from licensed insurers shows a  blatant disregard for worker safety and a willingness to gain an unfair advantage over other staffing  companies that follow the law,” District Attorney Nasarenko said. 

From 2015 to 2023, Man Staffing, LLC and several related businesses were owned and operated  in Ventura County by Miguel Angel Navarro and his daughters. During that time, Man Staffing  supplied temporary workers to more than a dozen businesses throughout the county. Although  Man Staffing’s contracts promised clients that its workers were covered by workers’ compensation  insurance, the company repeatedly avoided obtaining lawful coverage. 

Between 2015 and 2018, Man Staffing created fake certificates of insurance using stolen policy  numbers and provided them to clients as proof of coverage. In other instances, the company  claimed to have insurance through unlicensed, out-of-state entities that were not legally allowed to  issue workers’ compensation policies in California. In one case, Man Staffing attempted to contract  with an entity that had already been ordered by the California Department of Insurance to stop  doing business in the state. 

From 2018 through 2023, Man Staffing claimed it obtained coverage through several Professional  Employer Organizations (PEOs), primarily based in Fresno. However, Man Staffing’s employees  were never actually insured. For years, Man Staffing and its owners knew the company was  uninsured and were repeatedly informed by attorneys representing injured workers that the claimed policies were fraudulent or did not apply to Man Staffing. The company resolved injury  claims by paying settlements directly to employees rather than through insurance. 

Under the judgment, Man Staffing will pay $500,000 in civil penalties and $150,000 in restitution to  the Uninsured Employer’s Benefit Trust Fund, which is administered by the California Department  of Industrial Relations. The company and its related businesses are also required to obtain valid  workers’ compensation insurance from a licensed insurer and face additional penalties if they fail  to comply. Man Staffing is prohibited from renting, borrowing, or “piggybacking” on another  company’s insurance policy and is permanently barred from working with the unlicensed entities or  individuals from whom it previously attempted to obtain coverage. 

This case was prosecuted by Senior Deputy District Attorney Andrew Reid, a member of the  Ventura County District Attorney’s Office Consumer Protection Unit, after a multi-year investigation into Man Staffing’s business practices and workers’ compensation insurance coverage by the  District Attorney’s Office Bureau of Investigation.