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.
Ratcliff is an unincorporated community in Houston County in east Texas, United States. Founded in the early 1900s, Ratliff had a population of more than five thousand, with most working at a sawmill operated by the Louisiana and Texas Lumber Company. This Four C Mill used the 45-acre (180,000 m) lake that is the heart of Ratcliff Lake Recreation Area as its millpond. The recreation area is located within the Davy Crockett National Forest. Ratcliff is named for an early settler, J.H. Ratcliff, who operated a smaller sawmill, which cut the timber for the larger Four C Mill.