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.
Cole Camp is a small city in Benton County, Missouri, United States. The population was 1,028 at the 2000 census. The town is known for the annual street fair in September. It also hosts a Maifest in May, an Oktoberfest in October and a Christbaumfest in late November that all highlight the town's German heritage. Cole Camp was the site of a skirmish early in the American Civil War, when the local pro-Union Home Guard company was attacked by a Missouri State Guard force on June 19, 1861. At this battle of Cole Camp, the Home Guard were defeated with a loss of 35 men killed or wounded.