A California nonprofit is trying to stop Hyundai and Kia from selling cars in the state. Jobs to Move America filed suit in Los Angeles County Superior Court on November 13, 2025, and the Hyundai and Kia California lawsuit over child and prison labor asks a judge to bar the two automakers from selling or marketing vehicles in California until they clean up a supply chain the complaint says relies on child workers, incarcerated workers, and coerced migrants in Alabama and Georgia.1LA County Superior Court. Jobs to Move America vs Hyundai Motor America, et al.2Carscoops. California Lawsuit Wants to Ban Hyundai and Kia Sales Over Child Labor Allegations
What the Complaint Alleges
The case, numbered 25STCV33247, is built on California’s Unfair Competition Law (Business and Professions Code §§ 17200 et seq.), a broad statute that lets courts enjoin “any unlawful, unfair or fraudulent business act or practice.”3Competition Law Journal. California’s Unfair Competition Law: Regulatory Balance or Unlevel Playing Field The central allegation is fraud on the state: that Hyundai and Kia certified to California government agencies that their vehicles were built in compliance with the state’s “high-road” labor policies and federal labor law in order to win public contracts, and that those certifications were false.4Jobs to Move America. Jobs to Move America Files Lawsuit Against Hyundai and Kia for Using Prison and Child Labor in U.S. Supply Chain
California’s high-road standards, codified in part through SB 674, require contractors on large public zero-emission vehicle purchases to certify compliance with health and safety rules, proper worker classification, and other labor protections.5Jobs to Move America. Gov. Gavin Newsom Signs SB 674, California’s High Road Jobs Program, Into Law The complaint says the automakers could not honestly make those certifications because their Alabama and Georgia supply chain used prison labor, coerced migrant labor, human trafficking, and child labor involving workers as young as 13. It also alleges unsafe workplaces that produced repeated safety citations, injuries, and preventable deaths, and describes immigrant workers facing wage discrimination, inadequate training, and missing personal protective equipment.6Los Angeles Times. Nonprofit Sues O.C.-Based Hyundai, Kia, Alleging Unfair Labor Practices
What the Lawsuit Asks the Court to Do
The requested remedies are unusually aggressive. Jobs to Move America is asking for a declaratory judgment that the companies violated California law, and a permanent injunction that would halt sales and marketing of Hyundai and Kia vehicles in California until the companies overhaul supplier practices.2Carscoops. California Lawsuit Wants to Ban Hyundai and Kia Sales Over Child Labor Allegations7Jobs to Move America. JMA Lawsuit Against Hyundai KiaNonprofit Sues O.C.-Based Hyundai, Kia, Alleging Unfair Labor Practices
Under the UCL, standing extends to parties acting in the public interest without a showing of personal injury. JMA claims standing on the ground that it has been forced to divert organizational resources to fight the alleged conduct.4Jobs to Move America. Jobs to Move America Files Lawsuit Against Hyundai and Kia for Using Prison and Child Labor in U.S. Supply Chain
The Evidence the Complaint Draws On
The allegations are not new inventions of the lawsuit. They pull together years of investigative reporting, federal enforcement actions, and academic research.
Child Labor at Alabama Suppliers
A 2022 Reuters investigation found children as young as 12 working at SMART Alabama LLC, a Hyundai-controlled metal stamping plant in Luverne. Migrant children from Guatemala had been hired through third-party staffing agencies, sometimes using false identification. At SL Alabama LLC in Alexander City, state inspectors found seven workers between 13 and 16. Underage workers were also identified at Hwashin America Corp in Greenville and at Ajin Industrial Co. in Cusseta.8Reuters. Hyundai Subsidiary Has Used Child Labor at Alabama Factory
The U.S. Department of Labor fined SL Alabama $30,076 for “repeatedly” employing “oppressive child labor” in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. A September 2022 consent judgment permanently barred SL Alabama from further child labor violations, mandated quarterly training for management and subcontractors for three years, and required sanctions against any personnel found responsible for employing children.9U.S. Department of Labor. Court Orders SL Alabama to Comply With Federal Child Labor Laws Alabama regulators separately fined SL Alabama and its staffing agency JK USA Inc. $17,800 each.10AL.com. Alabama Hyundai Parts Supplier Hit With Fines, Penalties for Oppressive Child Labor
In May 2024, the Department of Labor sued Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama directly, along with SMART Alabama and a staffing agency called Best Practice Service. The federal complaint alleged the three companies jointly employed a 13-year-old girl who worked 50 to 60 hours a week operating sheet metal machinery at the Luverne facility between July 2021 and February 2022, and sought disgorgement of profits tied to child labor. Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda said “companies cannot escape liability by blaming suppliers or staffing companies for child labor violations when they are in fact also employers themselves.”11U.S. Department of Labor. US Department of Labor Files Complaint to Stop Three Companies From Employing Children Illegally Hyundai called the government’s joint-employer theory “unprecedented” and said it would “unfairly hold Hyundai accountable for the actions of its suppliers.”12New York Times. US Sues Hyundai Over Child Labor at Alabama Parts Plant
Prison Labor in the Alabama Supply Chain
New York Times reporting documented that Ju-Young Manufacturing America, a Hyundai parts supplier near Montgomery, staffed its plant through Alabama’s prison work release program. On a single day in May 2024, roughly 20 prisoners made up about half of the plant’s workforce. Inmates earn about $12 an hour under the program, but the Alabama Department of Corrections deducts transportation fees and takes a 40% cut of pretax wages.13New York Times. Prison Labor Alabama Hyundai
A November 2025 study by the Columbia Labor Lab, partly funded by JMA, found that about 13% of workers at Hyundai supplier plants in Alabama were prison work release participants, concentrated around Montgomery. Workers in Hyundai’s supply chain earned 10 to 15% less than other Alabama auto workers, and a 10% increase in the share of incarcerated workers at a plant correlated with a 10 to 14% drop in wages for non-incarcerated employees.14Columbia Labor Lab. The Impact of Incarcerated Labor in Hyundai’s U.S. Supply Chain
Georgia Operations
The complaint also reaches Georgia, where Kia has run a plant in West Point since 2010 and Hyundai is building a $7.6 billion electric vehicle and battery facility, the Metaplant, in Ellabell. Construction has produced three worker fatalities. In September 2025, 475 workers were arrested at the Metaplant site in what was described as the largest immigration raid at a single location in U.S. history; many detainees were Korean nationals working on visas that did not authorize U.S. employment.15Jacobin. Hyundai Auto Factory Labor Abuses
How Hyundai and Kia Have Responded
Hyundai called the JMA suit’s allegations “baseless,” said it is “fully compliant with all federal and state regulations,” and said it requires suppliers to follow “strict safety, employment, and legal standards.”16WTOC. California Lawsuit Seeks Ban on Sale, Marketing of Hyundai Vehicles in State Until Unconscionable Labor Practices End Its code of conduct states that suppliers “should ensure that they do not produce for Hyundai Motor Company, in whole or in part, goods produced by Forced Labor.”17AL.com. Automotive Giants Sued Over Unlawful and Abusive Alabama Labor Practices
On prison labor specifically, Hyundai acknowledged that some suppliers had participated in Alabama’s work release program and said none of its suppliers have used prison labor since September 2024.17AL.com. Automotive Giants Sued Over Unlawful and Abusive Alabama Labor Practices Reporting has noted that Ju-Young Manufacturing “left open the door to resume once the outcry subsides.”18Prison Legal News. Hyundai Parts Supplier Stops Using Prison Slave Labor Alabama
After the 2022 Reuters reporting, Hyundai CEO José Muñoz said the company would cut ties with SMART Alabama and SL Alabama “as soon as possible” and launched a broader investigation of its U.S. supplier network, pledging to stop using third-party labor suppliers at its southern operations.19Business & Human Rights Resource Centre. USA: Hyundai Investigates Child Labour in Its US Supply Chain Later reporting indicated the company walked that back, favoring “additional oversight” and citing the “important economic role” the parts makers play in rural Alabama.8Reuters. Hyundai Subsidiary Has Used Child Labor at Alabama Factory
Kia did not provide a public response when the JMA suit was filed.6Los Angeles Times. Nonprofit Sues O.C.-Based Hyundai, Kia, Alleging Unfair Labor Practices
Who Else Is Named
The complaint lists six defendants: Hyundai Motor America, Hyundai Motor Company (the South Korean parent), Kia America, Kia Corporation, Hyundai Mobis Co. Ltd., and Glovis America, LLC.4Jobs to Move America. Jobs to Move America Files Lawsuit Against Hyundai and Kia for Using Prison and Child Labor in U.S. Supply Chain Hyundai Mobis is described as a Tier 1 supplier that makes chassis, cockpit, and front-end modules and delivers them to the Alabama and Georgia assembly plants on a “just-in-sequence” schedule, with mandatory overtime imposed on its employees to meet those timelines. Glovis America handles logistics between suppliers and the assembly plants and delivery of finished vehicles; the complaint says Glovis provided a loan for equipment to SMART Alabama in 2021. The complaint characterizes the six companies as a “closed supply chain” under centralized control and argues they should be held jointly liable as agents, co-conspirators, and joint employers.20Jobs to Move America. Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief
Where the Case Stands
As of mid-2026, the case is still in its early stages. Court records show a status conference and hearings on a demurrer and motion to strike set for July 1, 2026, and a non-appearance case review set for January 13, 2027.1LA County Superior Court. Jobs to Move America vs Hyundai Motor America, et al. The demurrer indicates the defendants are challenging the legal sufficiency of the complaint before the case can go further. No rulings, settlements, or trial dates have been set. The law firm Hadsell Stormer Renick & Dai LLP is lead counsel for JMA, with attorney Brian Olney handling the case.21PR Newswire. Jobs to Move America Files Lawsuit Against Hyundai and Kia for Using Prison and Child Labor in US Supply Chain
Who Jobs to Move America Is
Jobs to Move America is a national nonprofit founded in 2013 by Madeline Janis and others, originally inside the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy and independent since 2016. It focuses on tying taxpayer-funded infrastructure and transit spending to manufacturing jobs with strong labor standards, and has negotiated community benefits agreements with global manufacturers.22Surdna Foundation. Jobs to Move America Its core policy tool, the “U.S. Employment Plan,” helps transit agencies attach labor conditions to public procurement.23Jobs to Move America. Jobs to Move America Launches as New National Organization
Not the Same as the Anti-Theft Cases
This lawsuit is separate from the well-publicized Hyundai and Kia cases over vehicles that lacked engine immobilizers and were easy to steal. In 2025, California Attorney General Rob Bonta led a 36-state settlement requiring the automakers to equip future U.S. vehicles with immobilizers, offer free installation of reinforced ignition cylinder protectors, and pay up to $4.5 million in consumer restitution plus $4.5 million to the states.24California Attorney General. Attorney General Bonta Secures Settlement With Hyundai and Kia for Selling Easy-to-Steal Vehicles A nationwide class action on the same defect, consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, was affirmed by the Ninth Circuit on January 8, 2026.25Hagens Berman. Hyundai Kia USB Car Theft Defect Neither of those matters involves the labor allegations at issue in the JMA case.