A college janitor who turned off a freezer after hearing several “annoying alarms” ruined more than 20 years of scientific research, according to a lawsuit filed against his employer by the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in upstate New York.
The janitor, who is not being sued, was employed by the cleaning company Daigle Cleaning Systems Inc., and worked for several months in 2020 at the private research university in Troy, New York.
The university is seeking more than $1 million (approximately R$4.7 million) in damages and legal fees from Daigle Cleaning Systems as a result of the incident.
The lab’s freezer contained more than 20 years of research, including cell cultures and samples, in which a “small three-degree temperature change would cause catastrophic harm,” according to the lawsuit filed in Rensselaer County Supreme Court.
The university does not believe the janitor is guilty, but blames Daigle Cleaning Systems for failing to properly train and supervise him, according to the lawsuit.
“The defendant, through its negligent, careless and/or reckless supervision and control of the [zelador]caused damage to certain cell cultures, samples and/or research in the laboratory,” states the university.
A CNN reached out to lawyers for Daigle Cleaning Systems and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for comment on the case.
The lawsuit states that cell cultures and specimens in the freezer needed to be kept at -80°C and a 3°C variance would cause damage, so alarms would sound if the temperature rose to -78°C or dropped to -82°C degrees.
KV Lakshmi, professor and director of the university’s Baruch ’60 Center for Biochemical Solar Energy Research, who oversaw the research, noted that the freezer alert went off on September 14, 2020, as its temperature rose to -78 degrees, as reported in the process.
Despite the alarm, Lakshmi and her team determined that the cell samples were safe until emergency repairs could be made.
While the professor was waiting for the freezer manufacturer to come and fix it, his team added a safety lock box around the freezer outlet and socket. A notice was also placed in the freezer, according to the court filing.
“THIS FREEZER IS BEEPING BECAUSE IT IS UNDER REPAIR. PLEASE DO NOT MOVE OR DISCONNECT IT. NO CLEANING NEEDED IN THIS AREA. YOU MAY PRESS THE ALARM/TEST SILENCE BUTTON FOR 5-10 SECONDS IF YOU WANT TO MUTE THE SOUND” read the notice.
But on Sept. 17, the janitor heard what he later called “annoying alarms,” according to the lawsuit. In an apparent attempt to be helpful, he turned off the circuit breakers, which supplied the freezer with electricity, turning them off by mistake. He further stated that the freezer temperature rose to -32°C.
The next day, research students found the freezer turned off, and despite attempts to preserve the research, most of the cultures were “compromised, destroyed, and rendered irrecoverable, demolishing over twenty years of research,” the lawsuit points out.
Source: CNN Brasil
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