What is a mass tort case?

A mass tort case is a legal action in which one act or omission causes injury or harm to multiple individuals. This type of case groups individual lawsuits in which plaintiffs accuse a common defendant of the same wrongful action. 

Mass tort cases often prompt either multidistrict litigation or mass tort class action lawsuits. In the latter, a class representative supports an entire class of people who suffered injury or harm from the defendant’s actions or omissions. The action is heard in federal court as a single lawsuit.