Hyundai’s Tax Breaks Threatened by Bias Verdict

A tax assessor in Oregon is threatening to take away tens of millions of dollars in tax relief that brought Hyundai to the state because a jury in Orange County ruled the company discriminated against women.

Lane County Assessor Jim Gangle has sent Hyundai a seven-page letter asking for detailed answers about its hiring practices and the discrimination lawsuit.

The letter comes two months after a jury in Orange County found Hyundai Semiconductor America Inc. “intentionally discriminated” against a Huntington Beach employee recruiter, Jeff Abraham, who said Hyundai dropped his firm when he ignored a Hyundai request not to refer women for work at the company’s plant in Eugene, Ore.

The jury found that Hyundai should pay Abraham $14.2 million in damages, but a final judgment is pending.

Hyundai spokesman John Lively said Gangle’s letter took the company by surprise. He said the company is evaluating its options.

Gangle will decide whether Hyundai violated employment laws and whether that warrants revoking the company’s enterprise zone tax waivers. Under Oregon law, companies receiving the waivers must comply with all local, state and federal laws applicable to the firm’s business.

Without the enterprise zone waiver, Hyundai would have paid property taxes of $11 million in the 1998-99 tax year, according to Lane County figures.

Hyundai estimates that the tax waivers on the computer memory chip plant’s first phase would be worth $30 million to $35 million over the next few years. Gangle said the figure could easily reach $40 million.

Gangle gave Hyundai until Aug. 16 to respond. He has until Sept. 25, the day he must certify property values, to make a final decision.