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.
Maiden is a town in Catawba and Lincoln counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Maiden is also known as "The Biggest Little Football Town in the World". The population was 3,282 at the 2000 census. The Catawba County portion of Maiden is part of the Hickory–Lenoir–Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area, while the Lincoln County portion is part of the Lincolnton Micropolitan Statistical Area.