Janitor Turns Off Annoying Alarm and Accidentally Wipes Out $1 Million Worth of Decades-Long Science Research

A janitor working in a New York university research lab became annoyed with the incessant beeping coming from a freezer. So he turned it off. In the process, he destroyed $1 million of research that took 25 years to complete. That's what a lawsuit filed in Rensselaer County court claims. Read on to find out what both sides contend in the dispute. 

According to the suit, the unnamed janitor from Daigle Cleaning Services was cleaning the Cogswell Building at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, on Sept. 17, 2020. He said he heard "annoying alarms" in the lab of K.V. Lakshmi, an award-winning professor of chemistry and chemical biology. Lakshmi's research materials were stored in the freezer at minus-112 degrees Fahrenheit with alarms set to go off at minus-108.4 degrees Fahrenheit and minus-115.6 degrees Fahrenheit. A rise or fall in temperature could cause serious damage or destroy the samples, the Albany Times Union reported.

The janitor opened an electrical box and shut off the circuit breaker, the suit contends. This quieted the alarm. It also caused the temperature inside the freezer to rise from minus-112 degrees Fahrenheit to minus-25.6 degrees.  The freezer held cell cultures, samples, and other elements to analyze photosynthesis with the goal of improving solar panel development. "A majority of specimens were compromised, destroyed, and rendered unsalvageable, demolishing more than 20 years of research," the lawsuit states.

The suit claims turning off the freezer caused damages of at least $1 million. But Rensselaer Polytechnic is seeking an unspecified amount of money in addition to that from the janitor's employer.  According to the lawsuit, the freezer's alarm kept sounding on Sept. 14 when the temperature rose to minus-108.4 degrees Fahrenheit. Lakshmi, her faculty and students responded. Lakshmi "determined that the cell cultures, samples and research were not being harmed," the lawsuit stated.

Repairs were scheduled for four days later: Sept. 21. In the meantime, a sign was posted on the freezer explaining the alarm, with instructions on how to silence it, the suit states. "This freezer is beeping as it is under repairs," the sign said in capital letters. "Please do not move or unplug it."

"No cleaning required in this area," the letter continued. "You can press the alarm/test mute button for five to 10 seconds if you would like to mute the sound."

When campus public safety officers interviewed the janitor, the man said he heard "annoying alarms" and thought he was actually turning the circuit breaker back on. "At the end of the interview, he still did not appear to believe he had done anything wrong but was just trying to help," their report said, according to the Albany Times Union. "People's behavior and negligence caused all this," RPI's attorney Michael Ginsberg told the news outlet. "Unfortunately, they wiped out 25 years worth of research." The lawyer said it is estimated it will take $1 million to recreate the work.