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.
Southgate is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 30,136 at the 2000 census. Southgate was the last city to incorporate from the former Ecorse Township, gaining city status in October 1958. The city is bounded by Brest Road to the north, M-85/Fort Street on the east, Pennsylvania Road to the south, and Allen Road to the west. Southgate currently houses the headquarters of The News-Herald, a local Downriver newspaper which covers over twenty surrounding communities. During the late 1950s and 1960s, The Southgate Sentinel, a Mellus newspaper, was published. The city of Southgate also features the Splash Park/Downriver YMCA (also called Southgate Fun & Fitness Centre), as well as the Michigan headquarters for the Sonic Drive-In fast food restaurant chain.