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.
Hurley is an unincorporated community in Buchanan County, Virginia located at the convergence of County Routes 643, 646, 650, and 697, a short distance from the Kentucky and West Virginia state lines. Hurley suffered devastating floods in 2002 which nearly wiped out the town.