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.
Irwin is a borough in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, 22 miles (35 km) southeast of Pittsburgh. Some of the most extensive bituminous coal deposits in the State are located here. In the past, iron foundries, flour mills, car shops, facing and planing mills, electrical goods, and mirror factories provided employment to the residents. In 1900, the population numbered 2,452; it increased to 2,886 in 1910. The population was 4,366 at the 2000 census.