The U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday sued South Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor Co (005380.KS)

, opens new tab, an auto parts plant and a labor recruiter over illegal use of child labor in Alabama.

The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Montgomery, Alabama, also sought an order requiring the companies to relinquish any profits related to the use of child labor.

Reuters reported in 2022 that children, some as young as 12, worked for a Hyundai subsidiary and in other parts suppliers for the company in the Southern state.

The Labor Department filing named three companies as defendants for employing a 13-year-old child: Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama LLC; SMART Alabama LLC, an auto parts company; and Best Practice Service LLC, a staffing firm.

The Department's Wage and Hour Division found the child had worked up to 60 hours per week on a SMART assembly line operating machines that formed sheet metal into auto body parts...

According to the Labor Department complaint, SMART informed the staffing firm that "two additional employees were not welcome back at the facility due to their appearance and other physical characteristics, which suggested they were also underage."...

"Companies cannot escape liability by blaming suppliers or staffing companies for child labor violations when they are in fact also employers themselves," Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda said in a press release....

Hyundai spokesperson Michael Stewart said the company had "worked over many months to thoroughly investigate this issue and took immediate and extensive remedial measures" and had presented this information to the Department of Labor to try to resolve the issue. Hyundai also required its Alabama suppliers to conduct independent workforce audits, Stewart said...