The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has asked a federal court in the Southern District of Georgia to compel Hyundai ENG America Inc. to produce employment data, including worker nationality information. The agency is investigating whether Hyundai failed to hire or promote non-Koreans at its Alabama and Georgia sites since at least 2023 in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII). The subpoena enforcement action was filed September 24, 2026 (EEOC v. Hyundai ENG of Am., Inc., No. 4:26-mc-00006).
The subpoena seeks hire dates, pay rates and termination reasons from 2020 to present. The EEOC says Hyundai has declined to provide data from before January 2023. The agency's initial request also asked whether Hyundai's hiring systems use AI or algorithms.
The investigation began with a commissioner's charge filed in 2024 by then-Chair Charlotte Burrows, whom President Trump removed a month later. Current Chair Andrea Lucas has made national origin discrimination under Title VII a priority and has encouraged American workers to file charges.
Hyundai asked the EEOC to revoke the subpoena and withdraw the charge, arguing in part that the charge is vague and conflicts with the administration's current view of disparate impact.
Hyundai’s argument highlights the shift in federal policy. Under former Chair Burrows, the EEOC typically pursued AI bias under a disparate impact theory, which can arise when a facially neutral tool disproportionately harms a protected group and the employer cannot show the selection tool is job-related and consistent with business necessity. After President Trump took office, his executive orders focused less on AI regulation and asked federal agencies to de-emphasize disparate impact investigations.
However, in responding to the motion to revoke the subpoena, the EEOC called Hyundai's AI argument "perplexing and inapt," saying the charge addresses intentional discrimination and fits the administration's priorities. The dispute shows where EEOC enforcement is heading: national origin claims are a stated priority, and AI use remains a subject of inquiry within an intentional-discrimination framework.
Keep workforce records, including nationality, pay and separation data, retrievable.
Monitor any AI or algorithmic hiring tools in use to ensure equal opportunity.
Review hiring and promotion practices if the workforce relies heavily on foreign-national or visa-based workers, given the EEOC’s focus on anti-American bias.