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.
Ruston is a city in and the parish seat of Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,546 at the 2000 census. Ruston rests on the eastern border of the Ark-La-Tex and is the home of Louisiana Tech University. Its economy is built to cater to its college population. Ruston in known throughout the northern portions of the state as the home for the annual Squire Creek Peach Festival. Ruston is the principal city of the Ruston Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Lincoln and Jackson parishes.