The soundbite is shocking: Foreign automaker bought parts from a supplier using “oppressive child labor.” Many folks might assume this went down in some far-flung country. But the real shocker is that said factory is in Luverne, Alabama.

The U.S. Department of Labor is filing a lawsuit to stop this form happening again. It claims that several underage workers stamped out body panels for Hyundai cars.

The suit 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.”

Jessica Looman, administrator of the department’s wage and hour division didn’t pull any punches: “A 13-year-old working on an assembly line in the United States of America shocks the conscience.”

So who is to blame? Reuters broke the story on underage workers at the Alabama factory in 2022. The plant was owned by Smart Alabama, LLC, which was then a subsidiary of Hyundai. The employees were recruited by yet another company.

Hyundai’s President, Jay Chang, apologized immediately. “The use of underage labor at a supplier or any operation is unacceptable, and we are committed to making sure noncompliance never happens again. This is a zero-tolerance issue…Even though there were issues with third-party staffing agencies that provided false documentation to these suppliers, ultimately, the responsibility is with Hyundai to make sure all our suppliers understand and meet our high global workforce standards.”

The automaker immediately sold off Smart Alabama. It told shareholders it had been misled by Smart Alabama. But now that the Department of Labor is suing Hyundai for the profits it made while children were building its cars, the automaker is changing its tune.

Hyundai’s latest official statement said child labor is, ”not consistent with the standards and values we hold ourselves to as a company.” It added the following:

“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. Unfortunately, the Labor Department is seeking to apply an unprecedented legal theory that would unfairly hold Hyundai accountable for the actions of its suppliers and set a concerning precedent for other automotive companies and manufacturers. We are reviewing the new lawsuit and intend to vigorously defend the company.”

Hyundai statement

It might be a bit much to hold every automaker responsible for every law broken by every supplier of every component. That said, Reuters reports that Smart Alabama was indeed a subsidiary of Hyundai. I don’t care what official legal status Hyundai claims. These child labor law violations happened at a factory it technically owned, which wsa building parts for vehicles that would bear its name. It is absolutely responsible.

Next, read which parts of your car come from slave labor in China, or learn more about Reuters report on the Hyundai supplier’s use of child labor in the video below: