Govt Sues Hyundai For Child Labor

The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Hyundai over illegal use of child labor in a factory assembly line in Alabama, the Daily Mail reported on Monday.

The complaint came after a probe found a 13-year-old worked between 50 and 60 hours a week operating machines on an assembly line that formed sheet metal into body parts for cars.

The suit, which in addition to the South Korean car giant, also named an auto parts plant and a labor recruiter as defendants, seeks an order mandating that the companies give up any profits connected to the use of child labor.

Hyundai said in a statement that it cooperated completely with the Labor Department and that it cannot be held accountable for the practices of its suppliers.

SMART Alabama, which is listed by Hyundai as a majority-owned unit, supplies parts for some of the most popular vehicles built by the automaker in Montgomery, its main U.S. assembly plant, according to the Daily Mail.

The company said it relies on temporary work agencies to provide people for these jobs and expects "these agencies to follow the law in recruiting, hiring, and placing workers on its premises."

Many of the minors at the factory were hired through recruitment agencies, according to current and former SMART employees and local labor recruiters.

Although staffing companies help find workers for industrial jobs nationwide, they have often been criticized because they enable large employers to outsource responsibility for ensuring the eligibility of employees to work.

Wage and Hour Division Administrator Jessica Looman said in a statement to CNN that "a 13-year-old working on an assembly line in the United States of America shocks the conscience. As we work to stop illegal child labor where we find it, we also continue to ensure that all employers are held accountable for violating the law."

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