Lawsuit Claims Research Losses As Lab Freezer Power Switched Off By Custodian

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) has recently initiated a million-dollar lawsuit against a cleaning company, alleging that one of its custodians turned off a laboratory freezer, resulting in the loss of decades’ worth of “groundbreaking” research.

The incident occurred at the Cogswell Building lab in Troy, New York, where Daigle Cleaning Systems Inc. had been contracted for cleaning services from August 17, 2000, to November 27, 2020.

According to the civil complaint filed in Rensselaer County, the lab freezer was set at a temperature of -80 degrees Celsius, and even a “small temperature fluctuation of three (3) degrees would cause catastrophic damage and many cell cultures and samples could be lost”. The research being conducted by chemistry and chemical biology professor K.V. Lakshmi was described as having “groundbreaking potential”, making the loss all the more significant.

The freezer was programmed to trigger an alert if the temperature rose to -78 or dropped to -82 degrees. On September 14, 2020, the alert was activated, but Lakshmi and her team found that the cell samples remained safe at -78 degrees. Despite contacting the freezer’s manufacturer for emergency service, the COVID-19 restrictions in place delayed assistance until September 21, as stated in the lawsuit.

Despite the precautions taken by Lakshmi’s team, such as installing a safety lock box on the freezer’s outlet and socket, an incident occurred on September 17. Joseph Herrington, a cleaning employee, reportedly heard what he described as “annoying alarms” coming from the freezer. In response, Herrington believed that the breakers were off and attempted to turn them on, as explained by the plaintiff’s attorney Michael Ginsberg.

An incident report mentioned in the lawsuit states “The action taken by Herrington was an error in his reading of the panel. He actually moved the breakers from the ‘on’ position to the ‘off’ position at or about 8:30 p.m. At the end of the interview, he still did not appear to believe he had done anything wrong but was just trying to help.”

The following day, when the research staff arrived, they were shocked to discover that the freezer had been turned off, resulting in a critically high temperature of -32 degrees Celsius, according to the lawsuit.

According to the complaint, “The Graduate Research Staff discovered that the Freezer was off and that the temperature had risen to the point of destruction of the contained research”. The complaint states that “a majority of specimens were compromised, destroyed, and rendered unsalvageable demolishing more than twenty (20) years of research.”

Joseph Herrington, the cleaning employee involved, is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit. However, his employer at the time, Daigle Cleaning Systems, is being sued.

The lawsuit mentions “Joe Herrington is a person with special needs and Despite such knowledge, Defendant failed to properly train Joe Herrington before, and while, Joe Herrington performed his duties as Defendant’s employee.”

As of Monday, neither Herrington nor the company had responded to requests for comment. Plaintiff’s attorney Michael Ginsberg clarified “The cleaning company failed to train the person who they assigned to do this work. Regardless of the individual’s capacity, without proper, training anyone could do that.”

The lawsuit highlights Lakshmi’s work as “groundbreaking,” specifically focusing on “Solar energy conversion in photosynthesis systems; capturing and converting it to useable energy.” Neither Lakshmi nor a school representative could be reached for immediate comment.

Although the lawsuit does not specify a requested amount in damages, it asserts that the value of the lost research exceeds $1 million.