Angry Janitor Turns Off Super-Cold Freezer Destroying Decades Of Scientific Work

Credit: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Years of scientific research allegedly were completely ruined when an angry janitor allegedly turned off a lab's extremely cold freezer.

Due to the janitor's recent nightmare at the laboratory at Troy, Michigan's Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), the institution has filed a lawsuit against the cleaning service provider.

Honestly, it would be quite funny if it weren't for the fact that we lost a lot of important work.

Credit: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

The nightmare started back in September 2020 when the janitor in question started to grow frustrated with a continuous beeping noise while they were working.

This is actually quite relatable.

The cleaner reportedly flipped a switch to turn off the jarring noise in an effort to relax but unknowingly did so while also turning off a storage freezer that contained decades' worth of work.

Credit: Daigle Cleaning Services

According to The Times Union, the turned-off freezer had kept cell cultures, samples, and other items at a chilly minus-112 degrees Fahrenheit.

With the aim of advancing the development of solar panels, the lab had been doing research on photosynthesis.

The temperature rose to minus-25.6 degrees when the third-party cleaner turned off the circuit breaker in the hopes of finding some peace and quiet. Of course, it's still chilly, but not chilly enough for the samples.

Credit: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

According to a complaint they have filed against Daigle Cleaning Services, this alleged crime has caused the university lab at least $1 million in damages.

The storage unit's inability to maintain a steady temperature was the mechanical function that caused the alert to sound in the first place. Therefore, maintenance was planned for a few days later.

Additionally, there was a notice clarifying this on the freezer door, which read: “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.”

RPI’s attorney Michael Ginsberg told the Times Union: “People’s behavior and negligence caused all this. Unfortunately, they wiped out 25 years of research.”

Afterward, the public safety staff clarified that the cleaner mistakenly believed they were turning the breaker on instead of off.

According to Ginsberg, the expense of reproducing the lost work is estimated to be around $1 million.

The lawsuit said: "A majority of specimens were compromised, destroyed, and rendered unsalvageable demolishing more than 20 years of research."

At the time of this tragic catastrophe, Daigle Cleaning Services had a $1.4 million contract to clean the RPI buildings in the fall of 2020.