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.
Ybor City (EE-borh) is a historic neighborhood in Tampa, Florida located just northeast of downtown. It was founded in the 1880s by cigar manufacturers and was populated by thousands of immigrants, mainly from Spain, Cuba, and Italy. For the next 50 years, workers in Ybor City's cigar factories would roll millions of cigars annually. The neighborhood had features unique among contemporary immigrant communities in the southern United States, most notably its multi-ethnic and multi-racial population . A slow exodus out of the area accelerated after World War II, leading to a period of abandonment and decay. After decades of neglect, a portion of the original neighborhood was redeveloped into a popular night club and entertainment district. One of the five campuses of Hillsborough Community College is located there as well, HCC Ybor. The neighborhood has been designated as a National Historic Landmark District, and several structures in the area are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. In 2008, 7th Avenue, the main commercial thoroughfare in Ybor City, was recognized as one of the “10 Great Streets in America” by the American Planning Association .