Amazon Sued over Eclipse Sunglasses That Allegedly Caused ‘Permanent Blindness’

Amazon is facing a legal battle over solar eclipse sunglasses that allegedly provided insufficient protection and in some cases caused “permanent blindness.”

Ars Technica reports that a couple, Corey Payne and fiancée Kayla Harris from South Carolina, have proposed a class-action lawsuit claiming that Amazon sold defective solar eclipse viewing glasses that failed to provide adequate eye protection and subsequently partially blinded the couple during the solar eclipse on August 21st.

The couple claims in their lawsuit that due to the faulty glasses purchased from Amazon they now suffer from “blurriness, a central blind spot, increased sensitivity, changes in perception of color, and distorted vision.” Amazon did recall a number of eclipse viewing glasses shortly before the solar eclipse. Payne claims to not have received any message from Amazon warning him about solar eclipse glasses being possibly faulty.

Payne and Harris’ suit hopes to represent others who may have been injured as a result of the malfunctioning glasses produced by American Paper Optics, who are not specifically listed in the lawsuit. The lawsuit claims: “Amazon’s August 19, 2017 e-mail ‘recall’ was tragically too little, too late. Its e-mail notification was insufficient to timely apprise customers of the defective nature of their glasses, and resulted in Plaintiffs and members of the proposed class using defective Eclipse Glasses.”

The lawsuit also seeks funding for “medical monitoring” as “Plaintiffs and members of the proposed class have or will experience varying degrees of eye injury ranging from temporary discomfort to permanent blindness.” The suit also demands unspecified monetary damages, punitive damages, and legal fees and costs. Amazon has yet to comment on the lawsuit.