A bitterly divided federal appeals court held Wednesday that a human resources worker at Kia’s plant in Georgia can’t sue the automaker on claims she was the victim of retaliation for filing a sex discrimination charge.

Judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit voted 8-4 and 9-3, on two aspects of law, holding that Kia could fire the HR worker because it believed she was recruiting other workers to sue the company.