Cleaners Mistake Leads To Destruction of $1 Million Worth Of School Research

Cursory: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is suing its cleaning contractor, Daigle Cleaning Systems Inc., after a janitor accidentally damaged over 20 years of research. The school is seeking damages of over $1 million, alleging that the cleaning company failed to properly train and supervise their employees. The university acknowledges that the cleaning company did not act maliciously but stresses the importance of proper training and caution.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in upstate New York has initiated a lawsuit against its cleaning contractor, Daigle Cleaning Systems Inc., after an incident involving a university janitor resulted in the destruction of more than two decades’ worth of research.

The janitor, who is not personally being sued, was employed by Daigle Cleaning Systems Inc. as a contractor and had been working at the private research university in Troy for several months in 2020.

The university is seeking damages exceeding $1 million, along with legal fees, from Daigle Cleaning Systems as a consequence of the incident. The lawsuit, filed with the Rensselaer County Supreme Court, explains that the university’s lab housed a freezer containing extensive research, including valuable cell cultures and samples.

The lawsuit maintains that the cleaning company’s negligent, careless, and reckless oversight and control of the janitor led to damage to the lab’s cell cultures, samples, and research.

The university asserts that the janitorial company is responsible for the destruction due to their alleged lack of proper training and supervision, emphasizing their belief that the janitor himself is not at fault.

“Defendant, by and through its negligent, careless, and/or reckless supervision and control of [the janitor], caused damage to certain cell cultures, samples, and/or research in the Lab,” the university claims.

“We don’t believe there was any nefarious conduct (on the) part of the cleaning company,” Michael Ginsberg, the attorney for Rensselaer.

“This was a result of human error. The core of the case, however, is that the cleaning company failed to adequately train their personnel. A cleaner should be trained to not attempt to remedy an electrical issue.”

According to the lawsuit, the freezer containing cell cultures and specimens required a consistent temperature of -80 degrees Celsius. Even a minor fluctuation of 3 degrees could result in damage.

To monitor the temperature, alarms were set to sound if it increased to -78 degrees or decreased to -82 degrees.

K.V. Lakshmi, the professor and director of the Baruch ’60 Center for Biochemical Solar Energy Research at the school, noticed that the freezer alarm went off, indicating that the temperature had risen to -78 degrees.

Despite the alarm, Lakshmi and her team assessed that the cell samples would remain unaffected until emergency repairs could be conducted.

While waiting for the freezer’s manufacturer to perform the necessary repairs, Lakshmi’s team took precautions by installing a safety lock box around the freezer’s outlet and socket. Additionally, a warning notice was placed on the freezer, as stated in the court filing.

“THIS FREEZER IS BEEPING AS IT IS UNDER REPAIR. PLEASE DO NOT MOVE OR UNPLUG IT. NO CLEANING REQUIRED IN THIS AREA. YOU CAN PRESS THE ALARM/TEST MUTE BUTTON FOR 5-10 SECONDS IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO MUTE THE SOUND,” the warning read, according to the suit.

According to the lawsuit, on September 17, the janitor reportedly heard what he later described as “annoying alarms.” In an apparent attempt to help, he mistakenly switched off the circuit breakers that supplied electricity to the freezer.

As a result, the temperature of the freezer rose to -32 degrees Celsius. The following day, research students discovered that the freezer had been turned off.

Despite their efforts to salvage the research, the lawsuit states that a significant portion of the cell cultures were compromised, destroyed, and rendered irreparable, resulting in the loss of over twenty years of research.

Source: CNN

Read Also: Lady Who Enrolled In Maths Class By Mistake Now Uses Music to Teach Maths

ALLSCHOOL TEAM