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.
Rippon is an unincorporated hamlet in Jefferson County, West Virginia south of Charles Town. The village of Rippon developed in the mid-1800s at the crossroads of the Berryville and Charles Town Turnpike (Route 340), Withers-LaRue Road, and Myetstown Road. A number of farms with large old homes still surround the village, as they have since the earliest settlement in the county. According to the 2000 census, the town has a population of 223. The town was named after nearby Ripon Lodge, although an extra "P" was added to avoid confusion with a town in Wisconsin.