(WIS) - A class action complaint has been filed against Amazon in federal district court in Charleston alleging the company sold "extremely dangerous and/or defective" eclipse glasses in the months before the Aug. 21 event.
The suit, filed by two Charleston residents, said the company's negligence in selling the glasses they later recalled "out of an abundance of caution" caused thousands of customers and the two plaintiffs "headaches and other physical injuries, including, temporary and permanent vision loss and/or impairment."
"Defendant knew or should have known the Eclipse Glasses were defective in design and/or manufacturing, were not fit for their intended and ordinary use, were not merchantable, and failed to perform in accordance with the advertisements, marketing materials and warranties disseminated by Defendant, or with the reasonable expectations of ordinary consumers such as Plaintiffs and the proposed class," the suit said.
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According to the suit, the two plaintiffs, Corey Thomas Payne and Kayla Harris, a Charleston couple, purchased a three-pack of the recalled eclipse glasses on Aug. 1, 2017. The suit says the couple did not receive notice of Amazon's recall and used the glasses during the Total Solar Eclipse on Aug. 21.
"Later that day, both Plaintiffs began to experience pain and discomfort, headaches, eye watering and other symptoms. 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 suit said.
The suit says Amazon's Aug. 19 recall of the glasses was "tragically too little, too late."
"Its email 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 to view the August 21, 2017 [Total Solar Eclipse] unknowing that the glasses were unfit for their intended purpose," the suit said.
The plaintiffs are requesting a jury trial. We've reached out to Amazon for a comment on the litigation.
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