Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'faulty' Eclipse Glasses

Image copyright Science Photo Library

A US couple have filed a proposed class action lawsuit against Amazon, claiming they sustained eye injuries from solar eclipse glasses purchased on the site.

Corey Payne and Kayla Harris said they experienced headaches and vision impairment after using the glasses to watch the US eclipse on 21 August.

Amazon said it issued a recall on potentially hazardous eclipse glasses on 10 August.

The couple claimed they were not informed of the recall.

Legal documents filed by the pair say the warning was "tragically too little, too late".

Amazon has declined to comment on the lawsuit, which was filed in a federal court in South Carolina on Tuesday.

Recall

The online retailer claimed it emailed customers issuing a recall of certain solar eclipse glasses products that it was unable to verify as having been manufactured by reputable companies.

However, Amazon did not disclose the scale of the recall or list the affected vendors.

When it issued the recall, it said it did not name specific brands or products, because some suppliers were selling legitimate versions of eclipse glasses.

The couple said that they did not look into the sky without wearing the glasses to view the first total solar eclipse to cross the North American continent from ocean to ocean since 1918.

Several hours after viewing the eclipse, the pair said they experienced headaches and eye watering.

Over the following days, they then developed vision impairment including blurriness and distorted vision.

Special glasses

The couple are seeking to represent other customers who also claim they did not receive a warning from Amazon and suffered similar injuries from using defective eclipse glasses.

The pair want Amazon to pay for the medical cost of monitoring peoples' eyes to see how much damage, if any, has occurred.

In the run-up to the solar eclipse, experts warned people never to look directly at the Sun with the naked eye.

Nasa scientists warned against using homemade filters or ordinary sunglasses, because these glasses would transmit thousands of times too much sunlight for the eyes to handle.

Instead, they advised people to obtain special eclipse glasses from the American Astronomical Society (AAS)'s list of Reputable Vendors of Solar Filters & Viewers.