Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in upstate New York has filed a lawsuit against Daigle Cleaning Systems Inc., the employer of a janitor who inadvertently caused significant damage to over 20 years of research.
The janitor, who is not being sued personally, had been working as a contractor at the private research university in Troy, New York in 2020.
The university is seeking more than $1 million in damages and legal fees, holding Daigle Cleaning Systems accountable for the incident. The research samples, which included cell cultures and specimens, were stored in a freezer that required precise temperature control. A deviation of just three degrees could cause irreparable damage.
According to the lawsuit, the university claims that the janitor's actions were not at fault but rather the result of Daigle Cleaning Systems' negligent supervision and control.
The university asserted that the company failed to properly train and oversee the janitor's work, leading to damage.
The lawsuit explains that the freezer had an alarm system that would sound if the temperature fluctuated to -78 degrees or -82 degrees Celsius. On September 14, 2020, the freezer's temperature rose to -78 degrees, triggering an alert.
The research team, including Professor K.V. Lakshmi, determined that the samples would remain safe until emergency repairs could be carried out. They added a safety lock box and posted a warning on the freezer to prevent any interference.
However, on September 17, the janitor mistakenly turned off the circuit breakers that supplied power to the freezer after hearing what he described as "annoying alarms." This caused the freezer's temperature to rise to -32 degrees Celsius. The following day, when research students discovered the freezer turned off, their attempts to preserve the samples proved unsuccessful, resulting in the compromise and destruction of the majority of the cultures.
The university announced that the incident caused the loss of more than twenty years of research, rendering the samples unsalvageable. They hold Daigle Cleaning Systems responsible for the damages caused by the janitor's actions.
