2023-06-28 07:00:00
New York cleaner turns off lab refrigerator – 20 years of research down the drain
The cleaner from New York apparently caused millions in damage by turning off the refrigerator (symbol image)
© Christoph Soeder / DPA
06/28/2023, 11:24 a.m. 2 min.
Annoyed by a beep, a cleaner in a laboratory in upstate New York is said to have switched off a refrigerator – and in doing so destroyed 20 years of research on photosynthesis. Now a lawsuit worth millions is threatening.
Refrigerators like to draw attention to themselves with an annoying beep when the door is not properly closed. Such a tone could now be the reason that decades of research have been ruined.
A cleaner at a lab in upstate New York is said to have turned off a freezer containing important samples used in photosynthesis research, ruining 20 years of research by several scientists. Lawyers from New York’s Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute now have the cleaning company sued for damages that could run into the millions. The incident is said to have happened in 2020.
New York: Cleaner turns off freezer because of annoying beep – ruining decades of research
As reported by the Washington Post, among others, the cleaner turned off the power to the refrigerator because it made an annoying beep. The reason for this is said to have been a defect, the repair of which was delayed by a few days due to the corona pandemic.
As the university’s lawyers explained, the scientists attached explicit instructions to the freezer: “Please do not move or disconnect from the power supply” should have been on a sign. In addition, the researchers are said to have attached a locker to the socket to prevent accidental unplugging. Instructions should also have been attached to the cupboard on how to switch off the signal tone.
But none of that seemed to dissuade the cleaner from unplugging the freezer. In a conversation with representatives of the university, the accused man admitted to having touched the refrigerator. However, he insisted that he had done nothing wrong – he just wanted to help.
Whether out of good faith or carelessness, the college is suing his cleaning company for $1 million in damages for allegedly not training the man adequately. Almost without exception, the cell cultures in the device were “damaged, destroyed and irretrievable,” according to the plaintiffs.
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According to reports, researchers at New York’s Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute worked to further develop the use of solar energy with the help of photosynthesis.
Those: Washington Post
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