Wang

Appellant, Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (hereinafter DLSE), a division of the Department of Industrial Relations of the State of California, imposed a civil penalty of $9,700 on respondent Joseph Wang, a licensed general contractor doing business as Milestone Construction Company (hereinafter respondent). This sanction was assessed under Labor Code section 1021.5, which penalizes a licensed general contractor who willingly and knowingly enters into a contract with a subcontractor who does not hold a valid state contractor’s license.

After the penalty was upheld in an administrative hearing, respondent petitioned the superior court for a writ of mandate. Respondent contended there was no evidence that at the time of entering the subcontract respondent knew the subcontractor was unlicensed. Respondent challenged as unlawful an interpretation by DLSE that the statute does not require such knowledge.

The trial court granted the writ of mandate, commanding DLSE to vacate its $9,700 penalty assessment against respondent and to discontinue use of DLSE’s Interpretive Bulletin No. 85-2-Amended, on the ground the bulletin erroneously interpreted the meaning of…