A janitor accidentally destroyed more than two decades of research when he turned off a freezer containing invaluable cell cultures that “had the potential to be groundbreaking,” according to a new lawsuit filed by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in New York.
The lawsuit claims Joseph Herrington, who was employed by Daigle Cleaning Systems Inc., switched off the freezer, which was set at -80 degrees Celsius, citing the beeping alarm as “annoying.” RPI filed a lawsuit against Daigle which had contracted the janitor at the New York-based institute. RPI is requesting the company payout at least $US1 million dollars in damages, plus interest and any other compensatory damages. The lawsuit says there was 20 years’ worth of cell cultures, samples, and other research that was destroyed or damaged when the temperature rose.
On September 14, 2020, prior to Herrington’s interference, Rensselaer Professor Dr. K.V. Lakshmi and her team noticed that the freezer’s alarm was beeping and the temperature had dropped to -78 degrees Celsius. Lakshmi, who was in charge of the research, contacted the freezer manufacturer for an emergency repair, but the company informed her that due to the Covid-19 pandemic, work could not be completed until September 21.
She and her team determined that the cultures would be safe until the freezer could be serviced, but installed a safety lock box on the freezer’s outlet and socket as a precautionary measure. The lawsuit says the team also posted a notice on the freezer, in all caps, reading: “This freezer is beeping as it is under repair. Please do not move or unplug it. No cleaning required in this area. You can press the alarm/test mute button for 5-10 seconds if you would like to mute the sound.”
The lawsuit states that the janitor admitted to adjusting the circuit breaker, but did so because he allegedly thought “important breakers were turned off,” and intended to turn them on, but had mistakenly turned them off instead. “At the end of the interview, he still did not appear to believe he had done anything wrong, but was just trying to help,” the lawsuit says.
After turning off the circuit breaker, the freezer’s internal temperature increased to -79 degrees Celsius (-25.6 degrees Fahrenheit), and according to the lawsuit, “A small temperature fluctuation of three degrees would cause catastrophic damage and many cell cultures and samples could be lost.”
RPI’s attorney, Michael Ginsberg told the Times Union, “People’s behaviour and negligence caused all this. Unfortunately, they wiped out 25 years of research.” The school said in the lawsuit that it doesn’t blame Herrington, who “upon information and belief … is a person with special needs,” but blames Daigle for allegedly not training him.
“The cleaning company failed to train the person who they assigned to do this work,” Ginsberg told NBC News. He continued, “Regardless of the individual’s capacity, without proper training, anyone could do that.”
Ginsberg and Daigle Cleaning Systems Inc. did not immediately respond to Gizmodo’s request for comment.