University sues cleaning service after freezer accident destroys 20 years of research

For twenty years, a professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute had been working on what the university described as potentially groundbreaking work.

It all ended with accidental flipping of a switch.

The university is seeking $1 million in damages from Daigle Cleaning Systems in Albany, NY, for breach of contract and failure to properly train a janitor who in September 2020 tripped a circuit breaker, cut power to the freezer and destroyed the contents, according to a lawsuit filed this month in Rensselaer County Supreme Court.

The caretaker, Joseph Herrington, said in a statement that he had become concerned because “annoying alarms” were coming from the freezer and he feared “major circuit breakers” had tripped. But instead of putting them in the “on” position, the lawsuit says, he had them turned off.

In the lawsuit, which was reported by The Times Union of AlbanyRensselaer said Mr Herrington “is a person with special needs”, but the university accused his employer of not providing adequate training on “how to handle specialized and delicate equipment”.

Rensselaer and the cleaning company did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

It was unclear what kind of research was being conducted at the lab, but according to the lawsuit, the work was overseen by KV Lakshmi, a professor and the director of Rensselaer’s Center for Biochemical Solar Energy Research. According to the lawsuit, Dr. Lakshmi “high-level research” at the Cogswell Laboratory building on the university’s campus in Troy, NY. minus 112 degrees Fahrenheit).

A small temperature swing of even a few degrees could cause “catastrophic damage and many cell cultures and samples could be lost,” the lawsuit said. As a precaution, an alarm went off if the freezer temperature rose to minus 78 degrees or dropped to minus 82 degrees.

On September 14, 2020, when the freezer temperature rose to minus 78, the alarm went off. Dr. Lakshmi and her staff “are beginning to take immediate action to address the cause and protect the cell cultures, samples and research,” the lawsuit said. The cell cultures and other samples were not damaged at that time and Dr. Lakshmi contacted the freezer manufacturer to schedule an emergency service. But due to Covid-19 restrictions, the freezer could not be serviced immediately, according to the lawsuit.

As the alarm continued to go off, Dr Lakshmi installed a safety lock on the freezer’s electrical outlet and socket with a note in all caps stating that it should not be moved or unplugged and that no cleaning was required. She added instructions for how to mute the beeping, the lawsuit said.

Days later, on September 17, Mr. Herrington, who was assigned to clean the lab, tripped the circuit breaker to the freezer, causing the freezer to shut down and the temperature to rise to minus 32 degrees Celsius.

In his statement, Mr Herrington said the alarms continued throughout the evening. He said he looked at the electrical box and consulted a guide to the circuit breakers. Mr Herrington said he thought the breakers to the freezer had been turned off and that he “turned them back on to make sure it was helping to protect the equipment,” the lawsuit said. The suit says he knew “how important the breakers were because his father works in factories/utilities at another university.”

But Mr. Herrington had misread the breaker guide. Instead of moving the circuit breakers to the “on” position, the lawsuit says, he moved them to the “off” position around 8:30 p.m.

“He didn’t believe he had done anything wrong, just trying to help,” the lawsuit said.

Graduate students found the contents of the freezer beyond salvage the next day, the lawsuit said.

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