CHARLESTON, S.C.—A South Carolina couple filed a lawsuit against Amazon Inc. last week in federal district court here, claiming that the online retailer sold faulty glasses that were marketed as being safe for viewing the solar eclipse in mid-August.

The couple is seeking to have the lawsuit become a class action. They claim in the lawsuit that their vision was affected after viewing the Aug. 21 solar eclipse with the viewing glasses they purchased via Amazon.com.

Amazon, as early as Aug. 10, began to notify customers that it was recalling potentially hazardous solar eclipse glasses that it could not verify as being manufactured by approved companies. In an email response, an Amazon spokeswoman told VMail the company does not comment on litigation.

According to the lawsuit, Corey Thomas Payne purchased a three-pack of eclipse glasses from Amazon, which were delivered to his home in Charleston on Aug. 3. Payne gave one pair of the glasses to his fiancé, Kayla Harris, and both plaintiffs used the eclipse glasses to view the eclipse on Aug. 21, according to the lawsuit. They did not view the eclipse during any time without wearing the glasses.

Payne and Harris did not receive Amazon's notice of the recall, according to the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs said in the lawsuit they began to experience pain and discomfort, headaches, eye watering and other symptoms later in the day following the eclipse.

According to the lawsuit, as a result of Amazon’s “negligence, false advertising and false marketing materials, plaintiffs and members of the proposed class suffered and continue to suffer injuries and damages from [Amazon’s] sale of an unsafe product in violation of South Carolina law through failing to disclose the dangers of the product … and failing to adequately and fully compensate consumers for the harms suffered…”

The plaintiffs are seeking to recover attorneys’ fees, costs incurred, interest on any amounts awarded and "further relief that this court deems just and proper under equity or law, including the award of punitive damages."