Pond Lehocky’s managing partner, Samuel H. Pond, spoke with The Hill, a national publication, as an expert on workplace violations and worker safety regarding litigation that meatpacking plant employees are taking up against employers. The article talks about the marginalized workers who have been on the frontlines feeding America throughout the pandemic and are fighting for workplace protection by accusing their employers of civil rights violations.
“This is novel just like the virus is novel. This is a really novel concept and it’s actually very creative,” Pond tells The Hill. Pond tells the publication that the approach to fighting for these protections is unique and creative but comes with challenges.
According to the article, Meatpacking plant workers take new approach in COVID-19 safety push, and data from the Food and Environment Reporting Network, more than 35,000 meatpacking workers have tested positive for the coronavirus, along with more than 4,000 food processing workers and 4,200 farmworkers.
Pond Lehocky has been working with meatpacking plant workers and their families years before the pandemic started and is speaking out due to workers losing their lives even more during the pandemic due to lack of personal protection equipment. The coronavirus pandemic has shed a light on the lack of safety in plants and the changes that need to be made to keep facilities functioning.
The Covid-19 Hotline, which can be reached at 267-606-4343, is just one of the resources the firm launched during the pandemic to assist workers with knowing their rights.
Pond is a founding and managing partner of Pond Lehocky, the largest workers’ compensation and disability law firm in Pennsylvania. A former President of the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association, he served for six years as treasurer of that organization’s Committee for a Better Tomorrow. He has previously served in leadership roles for numerous organizations, including chair of the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Workers’ Compensation Section and member of the Pennsylvania Board of Law Examiners.