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.
Cornell is a city in Chippewa County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 1,466 at the 2000 census. It is located on the Chippewa River, upstream from Lake Wissota and Chippewa Falls. Brunet Island State Park is adjacent to the city. The northern trailhead for the Old Abe State Trail, a paved rail-trail, is located downtown. Cornell has the world's only surviving pulpwood stacker. The stacker helped to launch the huge timber industry in the Northwoods of Wisconsin in the late 1800s and early 1900s. It was used to move large quantities of pulpwood logs, making the process of stacking wood faster, safer, and easier. The stacker has been unused since 1972, but is considered a historical treasure. An annual town fair, known as the Stacker Festival, continues today.