Mobis Alabama LLC and Kia Georgia Inc 11.5 million settlement over TN visa job and wage claims

This class action arises from claims by roughly 614 TN visa holders recruited by staffing firms (Total Employee Solution Support LLC, SPJ Connect Inc., and GB2G Inc. d/b/a Allswell) and assigned to work at Mobis Alabama LLC (Hyundai Mobis) or Kia Georgia Inc. in West Point, Georgia. Plaintiffs alleged the recruiters and manufacturers misrepresented job terms and violated federal wage laws (Fair Labor Standards Act), state and federal RICO statutes, and related fraud rules for work performed from Aug. 11, 2018 to the present. The defendants agreed to an $11.5 million settlement—covering both FLSA payments (about $30 per week worked, average payout ~$1,673 with half reported on W-2 and half as 1099 taxable damages) and Rule 23 fraud payments divided into four groups by days worked (ranging from roughly $4,112 to $16,800, with some offsets)—while denying wrongdoing to avoid further litigation. Beyond the immediate payouts (attorneys’ fees are slated at $3.45 million), the case highlights growing scrutiny of how employers and third‑party recruiters handle visa‑dependent labor: courts and regulators are increasingly willing to test joint‑employer liability, wage compliance, and deceptive recruitment practices that can trap visa workers in underpaid assignments. The settlement’s tax reporting nuances (split W-2/1099 treatment), the use of Rule 23 and FLSA claims, and the invocation of RICO in a labor context signal that manufacturers and staffing agencies must tighten contract disclosures, wage practices, and immigration‑related recruiting conduct to reduce liability—echoing a broader trend of litigation challenging exploitative staffing arrangements for temporary and visa‑tied workers.