Amazon Faces Class-Action Lawsuit Over Eclipse Glasses

Amazon.com has been hit with a proposed class-action lawsuit by a couple who claims defective eclipse glasses purchased through the online retailer damaged their eyes. In the lawsuit, filed in federal court in South Carolina on Tuesday evening, Corey Payne and his fiancée, Kayla Harris, said they purchased a three-pack of eclipse glasses on Amazon in early August, assuming that the glasses would allow them to safely view the United States’ first coast-to-coast total solar eclipse in a century on Aug. 21. Later that day, Payne and Harris began to experience headaches and eye watering. In the following days, they developed vision impairment, including blurriness and distorted vision, their lawsuit said.

Total Retail's Take: Amazon, like many other retailers, sought to profit from last month's solar eclipse. The retailer sold special eclipse safety glasses in advance of the rare event, however, the effectiveness of those glasses — and when Amazon notified customers about potential issues with them — is being called into question with this class-action suit. Amazon said it began to email customers to issue a recall of potentially hazardous solar eclipse glasses it was unable to verify as having been manufactured by reputable companies. Amazon didn't disclose the scale of the recall or a list of affected vendors. Payne and Harris said they didn't receive notice of the recall. They are seeking to represent other customers who never received a warning from Amazon and suffered similar injuries from the company’s alleged negligence.