Recently, an event that a cleaner accidentally turned off a freezer at university lab and resulted in huge loss has aroused many people's concern. Let’s see the detail!

According to a lawsuit filed by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, an American private college, a cleaner shut off a freezer after hearing over "annoying" alarm sounds, destroying over 2 decades of research achievements worth over $1 million.

The cleaner, who is employed in Daigle Cleaning Systems Inc. and works at this private research university in Troy, New York for several months in 2020, is not sued. The college university files the lawsuit against the cleaning company , claiming $1 million in damages and legal expenses.

According to a lawsuit filed in Rensselaer County Supreme Court, the laboratory freezer stored over 20 years of research achievements, containing cell cultures and samples which can be catastrophically damaged with even a small temperature fluctuation of three degrees.

The filing said the cleaner is not at fault, but the company is at fault for failing to properly train and supervise their employee.

“The defendant's negligent, careless and reckless supervision and control of their employees cause the damage of certain cell cultures, samples and other research elements in the laboratory” the university claims.

It is alleged cell cultures and samples in the freezer should be stored at -80℃. Since a small temperature fluctuation of three degrees can cause damage, the freezer was set to sound off if it went up to -78℃or down to -82℃.

In line with the lawsuit, K.V. Lakshmi, the professor and director of this research, noticed that the freezer alarm went off on Sept. 14, 2020, when the temperature rose to -78℃.

However, Lakshmi and her staff determined that the cell samples were not being harmed before the arrival of a maintenance worker, according to the lawsuit.

While Lakshmi waited for the freezer manufacturer for repair, her research staff added a safe lock box around the exit of the freezer and socket, and a notice was placed on the freezer based on the court documents.

"This freezer is beeping as it is under repair. Please do not move or unplug it. No cleaning required in this area," the sign allegedly read. "You can press the alarm/test mute button for 5-10 seconds if you would like to mute the sound."

Later, the cleaner heard the “annoying” alarm, and tried to help turning off the sound by opening the circuit breakers, according to the filing. But the cleaner actually moved the breakers from the “on” to “off” position.

The filing wrote that this mis-action resulted in the temperature directly rising to -32℃.

Researchers discovered the freezer was off the next day and tried to save the research achievements, but “a majority of specimens were compromised, destroyed and rendered unsalvageable, demolishing more than 20 years of research,” the lawsuit claims.

How irritating it is for researchers to have more than 20 years of research destroyed. What do you think?