The Devastating Consequences: How a Janitor’s Mistake Destroyed 20 Years of Research at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

2023-06-27 16:10:00

(CNN) – A college janitor who turned off a freezer following hearing multiple “nuisance alarms” botched more than 20 years of researchaccording to a lawsuit filed once morest his employer by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in upstate New York.

The janitor, who is not included in the claimwas a contractor for Daigle Cleaning Systems Inc., working for several months in 2020 at the private research university in Troy, New York.

The school seeks more than US$1 million in damages and legal fees of Daigle Cleaning Systems as a result of the incident.

The laboratory freezer contained more than 20 years of researchincluding cell cultures and samples to which a “small temperature fluctuation of three degrees would cause catastrophic damage,” according to the lawsuit filed in Rensselaer County Supreme Court.

University he doesn’t think the janitor is to blameInstead, he blames Daigle Cleaning Systems for failing to properly train and supervise him, according to the lawsuit.

“The defendant, by and through his negligent, careless and/or reckless supervision and control of the [conserje], caused damage to certain cell cultures, samples and/or research in the laboratory”, states the university.

CNN reached out to attorneys for Daigle Cleaning Systems and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for comment.

What happened?

The lawsuit states that the cell cultures and samples in the freezer had to be kept at -80 degrees Celsius and a small fluctuation of 3 degrees would cause damage, so alarms would sound if the temperature rose to -78 degrees or fell to -82 degrees.

KV Lakshmia professor and director of the school’s Baruch ’60 Solar Energy Biochemical Research Center who oversaw the research, noted that the freezer alert went off around September 14, 2020because her temperature had risen to minus 78 degrees, according to the lawsuit.

Despite the alarm, Lakshmi and her team determined that cell samples would be safe until emergency repairs might be made, according to the demand. While Lakshmi waited for the freezer manufacturer to come by to make the repairs, his team added a safety box around the freezer outlet and plug. A warning was placed on the freezer, according to the court filing.

“This freezer is ringing as it is under repair. Please, do not move or unplug it. Cleaning is not required in this area. You may press the alarm/test mute button for 5-10 seconds if you wish to silence the sound,” the warning read, according to the lawsuit.

But on September 17, the janitor heard what he later called “nuisance alarms”, according to the lawsuit. In an apparent attempt to be helpful, activated the circuit breakerswhich provided electricity to the freezer, mistakenly switching them from “on” to “off”, according to the demand. He said the freezer temperature went up to -32 degrees Celsius.

The next day, the students found the freezer turned off, and despite attempts to preserve the research, most of the crops were “compromised, destroyed and rendered unsalvageable, demolishing over twenty years of research”the lawsuit says.

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