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.
Paynes Creek is an unincorporated town in Tehama County, California, 23 miles (37 km) east of Red Bluff with a population of about 450. Its ZIP code is 96075 and telephone prefixes follow, which is shared with the town of Dales, California, about 9 miles (14 km) to the west. The town is named for the eponymous watercourse Payne's Creek.