Caretaker turns off ‘annoying beep’ in lab ‘causing £1million of damage and wrecking 20 years of research’
AN ANNOYED janitor accidentally destroyed 25 years of scientific research overnight after flipping a switch to stop an “incessant beeping”.
The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Lab in New York is facing nearly £800k in damages after the janitor’s act destroyed their research in a storage freezer.
The university has now filed a lawsuit against the cleaning service after the “negligent” act.
Attorney Michael Ginsburg said: “People’s behaviour and negligence caused all this. Unfortunately, they wiped out 25 years of research.”
The freezer which was shut off held cell cultures, samples and other items which had to be kept at minus 112F.
After the janitor switched off the circuit breaker controlling the fridge, the temperature rose to minus 25F – rendering the research and samples useless.
A sign on the freezer had apparently warned cleaning staff of how to turn off the beeping without ruining the freezer samples – but was ignored.
The sign read: “No cleaning required in this area.
“You can can press the alarm/test mute button for 5-10 seconds if you would like to mute the sound.”
The next morning, workers in the lab attempted to salvage research materials.
The lawsuit states: “However, a majority of specimens were compromised, destroyed and rendered unsalvageable demolishing more than 20 years of research.”
An investigation into the cleaner’s action determined he had simply made an error in reading the instructions.
It said: “At the end of the interview, he still did not appear to believe he had done anything wrong but was just trying to help.”
Last year, a sicko janitor infected an office worker with an incurable STD after dipping his manhood into her water bottle.
Lucio Diaz, 50, was allegedly caught in the act after the victim noticed a foul taste in her drink and set up a spy cam on her desk.
The video – seen by local ABC13 news in Texas – allegedly shows Diaz reaching over to grab the bottle.
He then dipped his manhood in “halfway” before “tilting the bottle back and basically rinsing his penis in my water,” the woman said.
She claims the caretaker also urinated in her water and had been doing it for months.
The married mother of two has since been diagnosed with an incurable sexually transmitted disease – the same one that Diaz tested positive for after his arrest, court papers claim.