A mass tort in that way is different than a class action because in a class action, while you do have the same type of injury against one or more defendants – like a corporation or a pharmaceutical company or some other large corporation – you’re dealing with essentially one or two plaintiffs in a class action that are representative of the whole population, and they’re going to get the same type of settlement damages at the end of a case.
Whereas in a mass tort, each person may have been injured in the same manner, but they all suffer very separate injuries, and their cases are looked at individually. So, someone who’s more injured will usually receive a higher settlement or damages award at the time of some type of resolution because their injury is considered individually.
