OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. – A $100 million lawsuit was filed on Monday against the Oxford Center and others after a 5-year-old boy was killed inside a hyperbaric chamber in the Oakland County facility.
The explosion happened Jan. 31, 2025, at the Oxford Center in Troy. Five-year-old Thomas Cooper was receiving treatment inside the hyperbaric chamber when it exploded, killing him and injuring his mother.
On Sept. 22, 2025, Fieger Law held a press conference announcing the filing of a $100 million lawsuit, while displaying images of the boy as well as the charred hyperbaric chamber and gurney bed.
You can watch the full press conference at the beginning of this article.
The lawsuit was filed against Sechrist Industries, Inc., Oxford Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Center, Oxford Kids Foundation, Tamela Peterson, Jeffrey Mosteller, Gary Merken, Aletha Moffitt and Office Ventures Troy I.
Sechrist Industries is the manufacturer of the hyperbaric chamber, and Officer Ventures Troy I is the owner of the property that housed the Oxford Center.
Peterson, Mosteller, Merken and Moffitt were charged in connection with Cooper’s death.
Previous coverage: 4 charged in Oakland County hyperbaric chamber death spent 2 days in court. Here’s what happened
Oxford Center founder and CEO Tamela Peterson, 58, of Brighton, is charged with second-degree murder and an alternative count of involuntary manslaughter, which means a jury can decide which charge applies to her conduct.
Safety manager Jeffrey Mosteller, 64, of Clinton Township, and primary management assistant Gary Marken, 65, of Spring Arbor, are both facing the same charges as Peterson.
Aleta Moffitt, 60, of Rochester Hills, is charged with involuntary manslaughter and falsifying medical records. Prosecutors said she was operating the hyperbaric chamber at the time of the explosion.
Click here for our continuing coverage on this case.
Fieger Law said on Monday that there were no warnings or stickers on the hyperbaric chamber detailing the high fire risk it poses.
It’s also alleged that there were no proper fire emergency prevention protocols or any warnings regarding fire hazards in the room where Cooper was being treated.
“It was a foreseeable, inevitable, and virtually certain result of Defendants’ callous indifference to human life. This should never have happened to Thomas, and we can never allow something so terrible to ever happen again,” Fieger Law Managing Partner James Harrington said.
According to Fieger Law, the lawsuit is seeking $100 million in damages and answers from those responsible.