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In a shocking development, the US Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit against South Korean automaker Hyundai (Himtf) For using child labor in a factory in Alabama.
The lawsuit, filed May 30, holds the company responsible for employing children within its supply chain, including a 13-year-old who was subject to 60-hour workweeks to produce parts for the automaker.
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According to the New York TimesThe lawsuit filed in federal court in Montgomery, Alabama, alleges that the South Korean company is responsible for child workers at the Luverne, Alabama, plant operated by Smart Alabama, the supplier that produces body parts for cars assembled at Hyundai’s plant in Montgomery. Also named in the lawsuit is an employment agency called Best Practice Service, which the feds allege recruited these children to work at the supplier’s factory.
In the nine-page document, The Ministry of Labor claims That from July 2021 to February 2022, a 13-year-old girl recruited by Best Practice worked at Luverne’s SMART facility, where she underwent work on machines that form sheet metal into the body parts of Hyundai vehicles. The lawsuit also alleged that two other children also worked at the facility.
According to the Department of Labor, Hyundai is alleged to have violated three different child labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which include employing an individual under the age of 16 in manufacturing occupations, and allowing an individual under the age of 18 to operate metals. A shaping, perforating or cutting machine employed by an individual under the age of 14.
Additionally, by allegedly employing children at its suppliers, Hyundai is being held in violation of the “hot goods” provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which is intended to prevent interstate commerce of goods “produced in violation of the minimum wage.” “Provisions of overtime or child labor” of the aforementioned law.
in statementThe results within Hyundai and its supply chain are appalling, and holding them accountable is the goal of the lawsuit, said Jessica Lohman, director of the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division.
“A 13-year-old working on an assembly line in the United States of America shocks the conscience,” Loman said. “While we work to stop illegal child labor wherever we find it, we also continue to ensure that all employers are held accountable for violating the law.”
Many of the best-selling vehicles in the Hyundai lineup are produced at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama (HMMA), the plant to which SMART Alabama supplies body parts.
According to the plant’s website, employees at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama are assembling the Hyundai Santa Fe SUV, Tucson crossover and Santa Cruz minivan, as well as the $45,700 GV70 and $66,450 GV70 electric crossovers for the luxury Hyundai Genesis brand.
Hyundai told the Times that child labor was “inconsistent with the standards and values we adhere to as a company” and that the Labor Department had used “an unprecedented legal theory that would hold Hyundai unfairly liable for the actions of its suppliers.”
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The lawsuit is yet to come Reuters investigations The book, published in December 2022, covers Hyundai’s labor practices and demanding production system. Its investigation concluded that Hyundai’s “just-in-time” production system requirements enabled its suppliers to cut corners when it came to hiring — relying on recruitment agencies that targeted migrant workers and children from Central America to fill production positions.
According to the Department of Labor’s lawsuit, Hyundai North America owns 72.45% of SMART Inc., a Hyundai subsidiary that owns SMART Alabama, the plant where the 13-year-old and three other children allegedly worked and worked.
“The Department of Labor’s complaint seeks to hold the three employers in the supply chain accountable,” labor lawyer Seema Nanda said in a statement. “Businesses cannot evade responsibility by blaming suppliers or recruitment companies for child labor violations when they are in fact employers themselves.”
Hyundai Motor, which trades under HYMTF on the OTC markets, closed May 31 down 0.75%, at $56 per share.
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