Class actions are lawsuits brought by a representative member(s) of a large group of persons on behalf of all the members of the group who have suffered identical or similar harm for which the same defendant may be liable -- such as a defective product class action against a manufacturer or an employment discrimination class action against a large company.
Free Union is a small unincorporated community in Albemarle County, Virginia, United States, ten miles north-northwest of Charlottesville. It has a small central business district (pictured at right) consisting of a private school, a doctor's office, a post office, a country store, a homebuilder, an automobile repair shop, and several dozen homes. Otherwise it is entirely rural in character.