(Trends Wide) — A college janitor who turned off a freezer after hearing multiple “nuisance alarms” botched more than 20 years of research, according to a lawsuit filed against his employer by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in upstate New York.
The janitor, who is not included in the lawsuit, was a contractor for Daigle Cleaning Systems Inc., who worked for several months in 2020 at the private research university in Troy, New York.
The school is seeking more than $1 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 to which a “small temperature fluctuation of three degrees would cause catastrophic damage,” according to the lawsuit filed in Rensselaer County Supreme Court.
The university does not believe the janitor is at fault, but instead 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,” the university states.
Trends Wide has reached out to attorneys for Daigle Cleaning Systems and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for comment.
The lawsuit states that the cell cultures and samples in the freezer were 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 Lakshmi, a professor and director of the school’s Baruch Solar Energy Biochemical Research Center ’60 who oversaw the research, noted that the freezer alert went off around September 14, 2020, because its temperature had risen to -78 degrees. , according to the demand.
Despite the alarm, Lakshmi and her team determined that the cell samples would be safe until emergency repairs could be made, according to the lawsuit. 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 BEING SOUNDING AS IT IS UNDER REPAIR. PLEASE DO NOT MOVE IT OR DISCONNECT IT. NO CLEANING IS REQUIRED IN THIS AREA. YOU MAY PRESS THE ALARM/TEST MUTE BUTTON FOR 5-10 SECONDS IF YOU WISH TO MUTE 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, he tripped the circuit breakers, which provided electricity to the freezer, mistakenly switching them from “on” to “off,” according to the lawsuit. He said the freezer temperature went up to -32 degrees Celsius.
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 unsalvageable, demolishing more than twenty years of research,” says the demand.
— Trends Wide’s Rob Frehse contributed to this report.
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(Trends Wide) — A college janitor who turned off a freezer after hearing multiple “nuisance alarms” botched more than 20 years of research, according to a lawsuit filed against his employer by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in upstate New York.
The janitor, who is not included in the lawsuit, was a contractor for Daigle Cleaning Systems Inc., who worked for several months in 2020 at the private research university in Troy, New York.
The school is seeking more than $1 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 to which a “small temperature fluctuation of three degrees would cause catastrophic damage,” according to the lawsuit filed in Rensselaer County Supreme Court.
The university does not believe the janitor is at fault, but instead 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,” the university states.
Trends Wide has reached out to attorneys for Daigle Cleaning Systems and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for comment.
The lawsuit states that the cell cultures and samples in the freezer were 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 Lakshmi, a professor and director of the school’s Baruch Solar Energy Biochemical Research Center ’60 who oversaw the research, noted that the freezer alert went off around September 14, 2020, because its temperature had risen to -78 degrees. , according to the demand.
Despite the alarm, Lakshmi and her team determined that the cell samples would be safe until emergency repairs could be made, according to the lawsuit. 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 BEING SOUNDING AS IT IS UNDER REPAIR. PLEASE DO NOT MOVE IT OR DISCONNECT IT. NO CLEANING IS REQUIRED IN THIS AREA. YOU MAY PRESS THE ALARM/TEST MUTE BUTTON FOR 5-10 SECONDS IF YOU WISH TO MUTE 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, he tripped the circuit breakers, which provided electricity to the freezer, mistakenly switching them from “on” to “off,” according to the lawsuit. He said the freezer temperature went up to -32 degrees Celsius.
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 unsalvageable, demolishing more than twenty years of research,” says the demand.
— Trends Wide’s Rob Frehse contributed to this report.
