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.
Mahanoy City (pronounced ma-HA-noy City) is a borough located 50 miles (80 km) north by west of Reading and 13 miles southwest of Hazleton, in northern Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania or the southern Coal Region. The name "Mahanoy" is believed to be a variation of the Native American word 'Maghonioy', or "the salt deposits".