A couple from South Carolina have launched a class-action lawsuit against online retailer Amazon for selling defective eclipse-viewing glasses, which have resulted in permanent damage to their vision.
In the lawsuit filed in federal court on Thursday, Charleston resident Corey Payne says at the start of August he bought a three-pack of special protective glasses for himself and his fiancée, Kayla Harris, to view the eclipse that occurred on August 21.
The popularity of the event had caused a rush of orders for the glasses, and the online retailer was overrun by bogus knockoffs that didn’t offer the required safety features to offset the permanent eye damage that occurs from staring at the sun during an eclipse.
Amazon later warned its customers about the prevalence of fakes and offered refunds, but the couple says they didn’t get that warning before the eclipse, when they used the glasses they had purchased.
At no point did they ever look at the sun without the use of the glasses, the suit alleges.
“Later that day, both plaintiffs began to experience pain and discomfort, headaches, eye watering and other symptoms,” the lawsuit alleges. “Thereafter, both plaintiffs began to see dark spots in their line of vision, suffered vision impairment, including blurriness, a central blind spot, increased sensitivity, changes in perception of color, and distorted vision. “
The couple are seeking to lead a class-action suit against the company on behalf of anyone else who purchased defective glasses, and didn’t get the warning in time. A judge will now have to decide whether there is enough merit to their argument to allow a class-action suit to proceed.