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.
Shartlesville, Pennsylvania is a small unincorporated community in Upper Bern Township, located in upper Berks County. It is located just south of Interstate 78 and is served by the Hamburg Area School District. It is home to the Shartlesville Hotel, which suffered major roof damage in February 2009 during a wind storm, which also knocked down a billboard in Reading and blew off roof tiles of the Pagoda in eastern Reading. The community is also the home of Roadside America, a large community of miniature trains and villages, located off of Interstate 78, that is open to the public.