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.
Decatur is a city in Root and Washington townships, Adams County, Indiana, United States. The city, which serves as the county seat of Adams County, takes its name after the prominent war hero Stephen Decatur, Jr. , one of the captains of the original 6 frigates of the US navy. When Indiana claimed official statehood in 1816, Decatur's name was as well known and revered as any celebrity today, thus when the town of Decatur was founded in 1836 it took its name in honor of the war hero.