Abstract: At approximately 8:00 p.m. on January 30, 2007, an associate professor at a local community college was exposed to toxic gases from a refrigeration compressor that had overheated due to a faulty test switch. The faulty switch allowed too much current to flow through the motor windings. The professor was teaching an evening class when he realized his eye, nose, upper respiratory irritation he was experiencing was caused by gases from the decomposition of residual refrigerants, and oils present in the hermetically sealed compressor. The gases were blowing from the refrigerant outlet tubing directly into his breathing zone. The professor immediately dismissed the class and drove himself to the Kaiser Fontana Medical Center, where he was hospitalized for three days.