U.S. Labor Department files child labor complaint against Alabama companies

Workers fabricating metal in factory (Getty)

The Department of Labor Thursday filed a complaint against three companies in Alabama regarding the use of child labor.

The news release wrote that the action comes after an investigation that alleged a 13-year-old girl worked 50-60 hour weeks at a Luverne manufacturing facility over a period of six to seven months. The complaint said the case is about who bears the responsibility for the violations in the automotive supply chain.

“Instead of attending middle school, she worked on an assembly line making parts,” wrote attorneys for the Department. Those parts were shipped to Montgomery, Alabama, where they ended up on vehicles that were ultimately sold to consumers throughout the country. The Acting Secretary seeks the Court’s intervention to enjoin future violations of the Act and to require Defendants to disgorge profits attributable to the oppressive child labor.”

The defendants are Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama, LLC; SMART Alabama, LLC; and Best Practice Service, LLC. SMART declined to comment Monday. The Reflector could not find contact information for Best Practices.

In a statement Monday from spokesperson Ira Gabriel, Hyundai wrote that their facilities, including Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama, are committed to following state, local and federal law, with policies, procedures and high standards for ethical conduct.

“The use of child labor, and breach of any labor law, is not consistent with the standards and values we hold ourselves to as a company,” the statement read. “We worked over many months to thoroughly investigate this issue and took immediate and extensive remedial measures. We presented all of this information to the U.S. Department of Labor in an effort to resolve the matter, even while detailing the reasons why no legal basis existed to impose liability under the circumstances.”

The statement went to say that the lawsuit is “seeking to apply and unprecedented legal theory” and that would hold the company liable for the actions of its suppliers, which sets a “concerning precedent.”

Hyundai wrote that the company took immediate action when they learned of the violations, with suppliers, at their request, terminating relationships with staffing agencies who said they had certified their staff to be of legal age.

The company also completed a review and investigation of their U.S. supplier network. They have also implemented new and more stringent workforce standards after the violation.

The Department of Labor alleges that the companies “willfully and repeatedly” violated child labor rules.

“As a result of the forgoing illegal conduct, Defendants unfairly profited by their use of oppressive child labor,” the complaint read. “Consumers throughout the United States unknowingly purchased automobiles that were manufactured with oppressive child labor. Defendants profited by these sales, and financial transactions related to the same, and continue to retain those profits today.”

The allegations include that a minor “EC” under the age of 14 worked on an assembly line in the manufacturing facility operated by SMART in Luverne for up to 50-60 hours per week.

The complaint is seeking a permanent restraining order against the defendants for violating child labor laws that are in the books. It also wants the companies to relinquish any profits gained violating the law as well as court costs stemming from the litigation.

In the accompanying news release, Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda wrote that “Companies cannot escape liability by blaming suppliers or staffing companies for child labor violations when they are in fact also employers themselves.”

In the 2024 Alabama Legislative Session, the Legislature approved a bill that eliminated certain school permission requirements for some minors.

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