One of the old go to gags in comedic movies is having a janitor accidentally bump something or flick the wrong light switch leading to something goofy. In real life, a janitor at a University in New York was cleaning a lab where a small beeping alarm was going off on a piece of equipment. So he unplugged the piece of equipment. There were samples and parts of experiments being held at -112 degrees Fahrenheit. They warmed up and were all destroyed. That janitor effectively ruined the products of 25 years of research. The University is claiming it was worth $1 million.
What makes this more tragic is that there was a sign on the door to the lab that read, “This freezer is beeping as it is under repair. Please do not move or unplug it. No cleaning required in this area.”
You might be wondering, if the freezer was under repair, why were samples being stored in it? Because, the temp had dropped to -108 degrees causing the alarm to go off. However, they determined -108 was still safe for the samples while they waited for a repairman to show up. The janitor says he was just trying to help out.