Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over Sale Of Fake Solar Eclipse Glasses
A couple from Charleston, South Carolina has sued online
retail giant Amazon over what they claim were defective solar eclipse
glasses that they bought from the company.
Couple Did Not Receive Recall Notice
Corey Thomas Payne and Kayla Harris, claimed to have bought
a three-pack of the eclipse glasses on Aug. 1 in the hopes that the
glasses would allow them to safely view the first coast-to-coast total solar eclipse visible in the United States in a century.
Amazon attempted
to recall the eclipse glasses on Aug. 19 telling those who purchased
the glasses not to use them. The company sent emails to customers to
warn about potentially dangerous solar eclipse glasses that it was not
able to verify as being manufactured by reputable companies.
The lawsuit claims that the couple did not receive a recall
notice from Amazon before the total solar eclipse on Aug. 21 so they
wore the glasses manufactured by American Paper Optics during the
astronomical event.
Too Little, Too Late
The lawsuit says that the Aug. 19 recall of the eclipse glasses was 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 lawsuit said.
Dangers Of Fake Eclipse Glasses
Payne and Harris allegedly started to experience headaches
and eye water after using the recalled eclipse glasses and in the
following days, developed vision impairment, which include distorted
vision and blurriness.
The two plaintiffs claimed that Amazon's negligence in
selling the glasses it later recalled caused thousands of customers,
including them, headaches and physical injuries that include temporary
and permanent loss of vision.
They said that they are seeking to represent other Amazon
customers who did not receive a warning and suffered injuries due to the
company's alleged negligence.
Prior to the eclipse, NASA and health experts have already warned about the danger of using fake glasses during the natural event, even for a few seconds.
"It's common sense not to stare directly at the Sun with
your naked eyes or risk damaging your vision, and that advice holds true
for a partially eclipsed Sun. But, only with special-purpose solar
filters, such as eclipse glasses or a handheld solar viewer, you can
safely look directly at the Sun," NASA said.
Source:TECHTIMES
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