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.
Coronado, also known as Coronado Island, is an affluent city located in San Diego County, California, 5.2 miles from downtown San Diego. Its population was 24,100 at the 2000 census. U.S. News and World Report lists Coronado as one of the most expensive places to reside in the United States. Coronado lies on a peninsula connected to the mainland by a 10-mile isthmus called the Silver Strand (locally, The Strand. ) Locals sometimes call Coronado The Island or Coronado Island, and they denote the core living and business area as The Village. Coronado is Spanish for "the crowned one," and thus it is nicknamed The Crown City. The city became a major resort destination in 1888 with the opening of the Hotel Del Coronado. In 1900 a tourist/vacation area just south of the Hotel del Coronado was established by John D. Spreckels and named Tent City. Over the years the tents gave way to cottages, the last of which was torn down in late 1940 or early 1941.