- University files million-dollar lawsuit after janitor allegedly destroys decades of research
- Cleaning company accused of turning off freezer, leading to irretrievable loss of research
- Damages in excess of $1 million estimated in lawsuit over destroyed research
The $1 million lawsuit alleges that the cleaner turned off the laboratory freezer to halt its “annoying beep”. Destroying more than 20 years of research.
A million-dollar lawsuit alleges that a janitor turned off a freezer at a university, thereby destroying decades of research.
After a cleaning business employee turned off the freezer to stop a “annoying beep,” Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute sued.
The lawsuit alleges that the New York-based institution hired Daigle Cleaning Systems Inc. to sanitize its Cogswell Building laboratory between August 2000 and November 2020.
The room’s freezer was set to -80C, and the lawsuit claimed that even a “small temperature fluctuation of three degrees would cause catastrophic damage and many cell cultures and samples could be lost.”
According to court documents, the research could be “groundbreaking” in the fields of chemistry and chemical biology.
It is alleged that the freezer was programmed to sound an alarm if it reached -78C or -82C, and that alarm went off on 14 September 2020, even though a professor and their team determined that the samples were safe at -78C.
Emergency repairs from the freezer manufacturer were delayed until September 21 due to COVID-19 constraints.
In litigation, the facility stated that the team installed a safety lock box on the freezer’s receptacle and plug, but on September 17, the cleaner, Joseph Herrington, reported hearing “annoying alarms,” according to his attorney’s statement to NBC News.
Mr. Herrington reportedly became concerned that the breakers had been turned off and attempted to turn them back on.
According to an incident report cited in the lawsuit, Herrington’s action resulted from a misunderstanding of the panel.
“Around 8:30 p.m., he physically switched the breakers from the ‘on’ to the ‘off’ position. “After the interview, he did not appear to believe he had done anything wrong; he was merely trying to assist.”
The research was deemed ‘unsalvageable’
The following day, personnel discovered the freezer to be off and at -32C.
“The Graduate Research Staff discovered that the freezer’s temperature had risen to the point of destroying the contained research,” the complaint stated, adding that “the majority of specimens were compromised, destroyed, and rendered irretrievable, demolishing more than 20 years of research.”
Mr. Herrington is not named as a defendant in the case, but his employer is.
According to information and belief, Joe Herrington is a person with special needs, according to the lawsuit.
“Despite this knowledge, the defendant failed to properly train Joe Herrington before and during his employment with the company.”
The work was characterized as “solar energy conversion in photosynthesis systems; capturing and converting it into usable energy” by the professor’s team.
It is estimated that damages exceed $1 million.
