University files $1M lawsuit after janitor turns off research freezer over ‘annoying’ alarm

The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute filed a $1 million suit this month against a cleaning firm after one of its janitors turned off a laboratory freezer, ruining years of research that “had the potential to be groundbreaking,” according to the suit.

The janitor, the suit says, was annoyed by an alarm from the freezer and turned it off, causing the fragile cell structures inside to be damaged by temperature changes. Daigle Cleaning Systems, who employs the janitor, is being sued for damages and legal fees.

The Troy, N.Y., university alleges that Daigle improperly trained and prepared the janitor to work around fragile lab materials.

Lab materials in the freezer were kept at -80 degrees Celsius, or -112 degrees Fahrenheit, and the freezer alarm would sound if the internal temperature rose or fell by two degrees from that point. The alarm sounded on Sept. 14, 2020, but freezer maintenance workers couldn’t reach the unit due to COVID-19 protocols at the time.

Researchers determined that the materials were safe, despite the alarm, and locked and marked the freezer until repairs could be made the next week. A note on the outlet allegedly read: “This freezer is beeping as it is under repair. Please do not move or unplug it. No cleaning required in this area,” according to the suit.

In an attempt to be helpful, the janitor flipped a circuit breaker, turning the freezer off. The suit says that the janitor thought the breakers were off, but was mistaken. When scientists discovered the freezer off on Sept. 17, the samples were ruined.

“(The samples were) compromised, destroyed and rendered unsalvageable demolishing more than twenty years of research,” the suit reads.

The lost research was worth about $1 million, the suit alleges.