Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has found itself in a legal conundrum after a South Carolina couple filed a class action suit alleging that the company sold them faulty solar eclipse glasses.
The South Carolina couple claims that their eyes were damaged while viewing the solar eclipse using glasses that they purchased from the retail giant to view the recent solar eclipse. Corey Payne and his fiancée Kayla Harris took to a South Carolina Federal Court to express their grievances. The couple reported that they started experiencing distorted vision and headaches on August 21, the day that they used the glasses to view the eclipse.
Payne stated that the distorted and blurry vision continued over the next couple of days and argues that this was caused by the glasses which they purchased from Amazon. The lawsuit also pointed out that the couple had filed it as a class action to also represent other people who had similar experiences. Astronomy experts had expressed concerns about the safety of solar glasses in the days leading up to the highly publicized solar eclipse.
The American Astronomical Society and NASA had also warned consumers to test their glasses before using them to view the eclipse. Genuine eclipse-viewing glasses would not let any light through from regular lamps and they also contain an ISO certification number from the international safety standards.
“While no data exists for how many eclipse glasses were in circulation overall, shady distributors of purportedly solar-safe shades abound on the Internet,” experts warned.
The couple stated that they purchased a pack of three solar eclipse glasses from the online retail giant. Amazon defended itself stating that it began to email customers to issue a recall of the potentially dangerous glasses on August 10. The company claims that it was not able to verify whether the glasses were made by reputable companies. Payne and Harris however claim that they never received any email or notice about a recall. The case highlights the latest report of faulty products being sold on the online retail platform.
Amazon stock closed the latest trading session on Thursday at $980.60.