A federal judge in Georgia has allowed key portions of a lawsuit to proceed against GFA Alabama Inc. and Glovis Georgia, accused of exploiting Mexican workers recruited under the U.S. Trade NAFTA (TN) visa program.
The lawsuit, filed by two Mexican professionals, alleges the companies used a bait-and-switch scheme to lure them to the U.S. with promises of engineering roles but instead placed them into lower-paying manual labor jobs, denied them overtime pay, and subjected them to discrimination. One plaintiff also claims she was terminated after disclosing her pregnancy.
In a Thursday order, Judge J.P. Boulee of the Northern District of Georgia dismissed some allegations but permitted claims of fraud, discrimination, retaliation, and wage violations to move forward. Boulee also paused discovery while the case progresses through early motions; once the stay is lifted, both parties will exchange evidence relevant to the surviving claims.
The case underscores growing scrutiny of how U.S. companies utilize temporary visa programs and the potential risks faced by workers when promised professional roles fail to materialize.
Glovis Georgia, which operates as Hyundai Glovis, is a logistics company based in West Point, Georgia, and is part of the Hyundai Kia Automotive Group. GFA Alabama, headquartered in Valley, Alabama, provides logistics services as a subcontractor for Glovis, including materials handling at the West Point warehouse.
Plaintiffs Jimmy Martinez and Rosa Linda Soriano, residents of Mexico, allege they were recruited in 2022 for engineering positions under the TN visa program by GFA Alabama and Glovis.
Martinez, an industrial engineer with six years of professional experience in Mexico, and Soriano, a pharmaceutical chemist also with six years of experience, say they were instead placed in low-level manual labor positions in warehouses and on automotive assembly lines.
Under the TN visa program, foreign workers with specialized training are intended to work in professional-level positions in the U.S.
According to court documents, Martinez discovered that GFA paid him and his Mexican engineer colleagues approximately $11 per hour—significantly less than the $17–18 per hour earned by U.S.-born coworkers performing similar tasks.
Soriano also reported earning around $11 per hour. Both plaintiffs say they incurred expenses for visas, travel, work supplies, and household goods and ultimately returned to Mexico at their own cost.
Soriano alleges that after informing her employer of her pregnancy in December 2022 and requesting a less physically demanding role, she was fired.
GFA Alabama Inc. and Glovis Georgia did not respond to requests for comment from FreightWaves.
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