The Labor Division on Thursday sued Hyundai over the usage of youngster labor in Alabama, holding the automobile producer responsible for the employment of kids in its provide chain, together with a 13-year-old lady who labored as much as 60 hours per week making automobile components.

Within the go well with, filed in a federal courtroom in Montgomery, Ala., the division stated Hyundai was answerable for the employment of kids at a Sensible Alabama manufacturing unit in Luverne, Ala., which produces components like physique panels which are shipped to a Hyundai manufacturing unit in Montgomery. The go well with additionally claimed a staffing company, Greatest Observe Service, recruited the kids to work on the provider’s plant.

In a press release, Hyundai stated youngster labor was “not in step with the requirements and values we maintain ourselves to as an organization.” It added that the Labor Division used “an unprecedented authorized idea that will unfairly maintain Hyundai accountable for the actions of its suppliers.”

Sensible didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. Representatives of Greatest Observe Service, which is not in enterprise, couldn’t be reached for remark.

From July 2021 to February 2022, a 13-year-old lady labored on the Sensible plant, the place she was recruited to work by Greatest Observe Service, the go well with claimed. The go well with additionally contended that two different youngsters had been employed on the plant.

The Labor Division stated that by means of the employment of kids at its provider, Hyundai was in violation of the “sizzling items” provision of the Truthful Labor Requirements Act, which prevents the interstate commerce of products “that had been produced in violation of the minimal wage, extra time or youngster labor provisions” of that regulation.

“Firms can’t escape legal responsibility by blaming suppliers or staffing firms for youngster labor violations when they’re in actual fact additionally employers themselves,” stated Seema Nanda, the Labor Division’s chief authorized officer, in a press release Thursday.

The go well with comes after investigations by Reuters and The New York Occasions documented the usage of youngster labor by the suppliers of automobile firms. In 2022, Reuters discovered that Sensible Alabama had used youngster labor at its facility, and that Kia, which is a part of the identical South Korean conglomerate as Hyundai, had additionally used youngster labor within the South. A 2023 investigation by The Occasions discovered youngsters employed on the suppliers of Basic Motors and Ford Motor.

Hyundai imports lots of its autos from South Korea however has made massive investments in factories within the South, spending almost $8 billion on an electrical automobile plant in Georgia. The United Car Employees union has stated it hopes to arrange employees at Hyundai’s Montgomery plant.