A mass tort is a civil action involving numerous plaintiffs against one or a few corporate defendants. The tort may involve, for example, personal injuries suffered by numerous plaintiffs as a result of a defective product, or a mass disaster in which there were many injured persons, such as an airplane crash, or exposure of a large group of people to toxic chemicals or pharmaceuticals.
Douglas, Alaska is an area on Douglas Island in southeastern Alaska. It originated in 1881 as a place providing services to miners of the nearby Treadwell gold mine, and was incorporated as a city in 1902. Douglas was once a larger town than neighboring Juneau, but dwindled in the early 1900s as mining activity moved to other locations. Today Douglas is a residential community on Douglas Island and is legally a part of the City and Borough of Juneau. It is connected to Juneau, which is on the Alaska mainland, by a bridge over the Gastineau Channel that separates them. The Alaska Department of Corrections has its headquarters in Douglas.