A surprise inspection by state and federal labor officials last November found an underage worker at a Hyundai supplier plant who had used a phony I.D. to gain employment.

According to Reuters, “Fernando Ramos,” whose documents identified him as a 34-year-old Tennessee man, was actually 16 and had already been working for two years using bogus documents.

The boy, who was moving heavy equipment in violation of the law, was eventually tracked back to a middle school in Montgomery. The Alabama Department of Labor fined three staffing agencies $5,050 in connection with the case, the legal maximum, according to the news agency.

Reuters, in its report, stated that reporters found the real Fernando Ramos in Texas, though the photo that accompanied the I.D. card was neither him nor the youth who used the identity.

“What the hell,” he replied in a message when shown the information.

Reuters originally reported last July that children were employed at SMART Alabama, which has supplied parts for Hyundai’s Montgomery plant since 2003.

Two suppliers, SL Alabama and SMART, have terminated their relationships with third-party staffing agencies which, the company said, falsely certified that they had screened and cleared children as being eligible to work.

Both SL Alabama and JK USA, an Opelika temporary employment agency, earlier this year paid fines from federal court and the Alabama Department of Labor, after investigators found workers as young as 13 employed in one factory.

In February, Hyundai announced plans to divest its majority stake from an auto supplier in Alabama following its investigation, as well as other measures to report the use of underage labor.