Annoyed janitor turns off super-cold freezer and destroys decades of scientific work, causes at least $1 million in damages: lawsuit

A janitor working in a laboratory who was annoyed by an incessant beep reportedly flipped a switch that wrecked havoc.

The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is suing a third-party cleaning service after a cleaner’s (not pictured) error allegedly destroyed decades of research.

It could be the plot of a dark comedy if it weren’t a science tragedy.

A janitor working in a laboratory who was annoyed by an incessant beep reportedly flipped a switch that killed the noise — but also shut off a storage freezer, destroying decades of scientific work, according to the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) lab in Troy, New York, the New York Post reports.

The cleaner’s alleged carelessness cost the lab at least US$1 million ($1.5 million AU) in damages, a lawsuit the university filed against its third-party cleaning service charges.

A cleaner reportedly shut off a circuit breaker because of a beeping alarm – and in the process, allegedly wrecked decades of scientific research.

“People’s behaviour and negligence caused all this,” Michael Ginsberg, RPI’s lawyer, told the Times Union in Albany. “Unfortunately, they wiped out 25 years of research.”

The super-cold freezer the custodial worker allegedly shut down held cell cultures, samples and other elements stored at minus 24 degrees celsius, the Times Union said.

But when the worker from Daigle Cleaning Services shut off the circuit breaker on September 17, 2020, to silence a beeping alarm, the temperature leapt to a minus 32 degrees celsius that damaged or destroyed the material, the lawsuit claimed.

The freezer alarm had been triggered by a mechanical malfunction that stopped the unit from maintaining a constant temperature, as it was supposed to. Repairs had been scheduled for Sept. 21, 2020, the Times Union reported.

A sign on the lab freezer door explains the source of the alarm, and also had instructions on how to silence it, the Times Union reported.

The third party firm – Daigle Cleaning Services – could not be reached for comment, according to the Times Union.

“No cleaning required in this area,” the sign said. “You can press the alarm/test mute button for 5-10 seconds if you would like to mute the sound.”

The cleaner thought they were flipping the breaker on when they actually turned it off, according to a report filed by the RPI public safety staff afterwards.

“A majority of specimens were compromised, destroyed and rendered unsalvageable demolishing more than 20 years of research,” the lawsuit said.

The newspaper said Derek Foster, president of Daigle Cleaning Services, could not be reached for comment.

Mr Ginsberg told the news outlet it would cost an estimated $US1 million ($1.5 million AU) to replicate the work, which reportedly focused on photosynthesis and may have furthered solar panel development.

The cleaning company had a $US1.4 million ($2.1 million AU) contract to clean the RPI facilities during the 2020 fall semester.

This article originally appeared on New York Post and was reproduced with permission