A group adversely affected from a common cause, as defined by legislation, litigation, or prevailing practice.
 any employee in an affected class may volunteer to be laid off
 Example sentencesExamples
-  The organization files cases for the enforcement of legal rights or liabilities of the affected class.
 -  Collectively, they are clearly the most numerous affected class.
 -  The ratings for the affected classes are dependent upon the company's ability to provide payments.
 -  He tells the newspaper he'll attempt to get millions of Americans certified as an affected class.
 -  The affected class of taxpayers has failed to properly account for their taxes due to a misunderstanding of the tax law.