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.
Livonia is a city in the northwest part of Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Livonia is a very large suburb with an array of traditional neighborhoods connected to the metropolitan area by freeways. The population was 100,545 at the 2000 census. The 2008 Census Bureau Estimate places the population at 91,220, making it the ninth largest city in Michigan. The municipality is a part of the Detroit metropolitan area, and located approximately 13 miles (21 km) northwest from downtown Detroit, and two miles (3 km) from the western city limits of Detroit (Redford Township lies in between the two).