USA | A janitor accidentally turns off a freezer and deletes 20 years of university research Rensselaer | Daigle Cleaning Systems | | Locomando

New York University is seeking $1 million in damages from a maintenance contractor who accidentally turned off a lab freezer, destroying 20 years of research, local media reported Tuesday.

The events took place at the end of 2020, when he was a janitor at the Polytechnic Institute RensselaerIn Troy (upstate New York), some heard “Trouble Alerts” Despite a note not to touch it because it was undergoing repairs, the freezer came out and turned it off, CNN notes.

The university sued the janitor’s employer this month for negligence. Daigle cleaning systemsIn the District Supreme Court Rensselaerand argued that the move irreparably damaged cell cultures, models, and research related to biochemistry and solar energy.

In the document, the materials in the device must be kept at 80 degrees Celsius below zero, and a fluctuation of only three degrees will cause damage, and if the temperature rises to 78 degrees below zero due to its failure, alarms are sounded.

However, due to the timing of this pandemic and restrictions on operations, the freezer manufacturer was unable to make emergency repairs quickly.

Before waiting several days, the researcher responsible for the device put a warning note in large letters not to move or turn off the freezer despite beeping sounds, instructions to silence it briefly, and a safety lock on the plug.

The cleaner, well-intentioned, thought the freezer wasn’t getting power, so he went to the fuse box and flipped the switch, which did the opposite of what he intended: cut off the power, which raised the temperature to 32 degrees. Below zero, the document indicates, according to The Washington Post.

Professor K.V. Lakshmi’s scrapped research project dealt with photosynthesis and had “the potential to be revolutionary” in solar technology, adds the medium.

Source: EFE