Labor Department files lawsuit against Hyundai for employing minors.
The Department has filed a new complaint claiming Best Practice, a staffing agency, sent a child to work at SMART Alabama, a company that supplied car parts to Hyundai. The three companies are accused of being jointly responsible for employing the child. According to the complaint, Hyundai has a majority stake in SMART's parent company.
The complaint alleges that the child was made to operate machines which formed sheet metal into vehicle body parts. It is claimed that all three companies breached child labor laws under the Fair Labor Standards Act between July 11, 2021, and February 1, 2022.
Wage and Hour Division Administrator Jessica Looman expressed her disbelief at the situation, saying, “It's appalling that a 13-year-old was working on an assembly line in the United States of America.” She added, “We are determined to put a stop to illegal child labor and hold all employers accountable for violating the law.”
Hyundai acknowledged cooperating with the Department's investigation but maintained it was not liable for the child's employment.
“We've cooperated with the Department's probe and will strongly defend the company,” said Hyundai in a statement.
The carmaker added that it promptly took action upon becoming aware of the issue and took steps to ensure no more underage workers were employed.
“Once informed of the alleged supplier violations, we immediately cut ties with the third-party staffing agencies, even though they'd certified that the workers were of legal age. We also carried out a thorough investigation and a wider review of our US supplier network,” read Hyundai's statement.
SMART was unavailable for comment when approached by CNN, while attempts to reach Best Practice were unsuccessful.
The lawsuit, filed in an Alabama federal court, seeks an injunction to cease any further use of child labor, as well as compensation for any earnings related to the child labor.
Hyundai and its suppliers had been under scrutiny earlier due to investigations by Reuters on the use of child labor in Alabama.
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The lawsuit also named Best Practice, a company that provided staff to car part supplier SMART Alabama, as a party responsible for employing the minor. Hyndai's stake in SMART's parent company raises questions about the oversight of labor practices in their supply chain.
