The federal government has sued Hyundai after a 13-year old girl was found working on an assembly line.
The Department of Labor on Thursday sued the South Korean auto giant, an auto parts plant and a labor recruiter over illegal use of child labor in Alabama.
The complaint follows an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division that found a 13-year-old worked between 50 and 60 hours a week operating machines on an assembly line that formed sheet metal into auto body parts.
The filing also seeks an order requiring the companies to relinquish any profits related to the use of child labor.
The defendants include Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama LLC, SMART Alabama LLC and Best Practice Service, LLC.
Hyundai said in a statement that it cooperated fully with the Labor Department and that it is unfair to be held accountable for the practices of its suppliers.
‘We are reviewing the new lawsuit and intend to vigorously defend the company,’ the statement said.
Reuters reported in 2022 that children, some as young as 12, worked for Hyundai subsidiary SMART and in other parts suppliers for the company in the Southern state.
SMART Alabama in Luverne, an automotive parts manufacturer that has supplied parts for Hyundai since 2003, reportedly fired multiple underage workers as publicity around the missing girl’s case heated up.
A former employee alleged that as many as 50 underage workers were employed across various shifts when he was working at the plant.
The accusations date back to a February, 2022, Amber Alert regarding Eidy Aracely Tzi Coc, who had briefly disappeared from her family’s home in the town of Enterprise alongside 21-year-old Alvaro Cucul.
Hellbound and Down 