The lead singer of Motown’s legendary Four Tops has sued a Michigan hospital claiming racial discrimination after staff assumed he was “delusional” when he said he was in the group and placed him in a restraining jacket.
Alexander Morris, 53, who is Black and joined the iconic vocal quartet in 2018, went to Ascension Macomb-Oakland Hospital in Warren, Michigan, on April 7, 2023 with “clear symptoms of cardiac distress.”
He had difficulty breathing and chest pain, and was placed on oxygen, the lawsuit filed Monday in the eastern district of Michigan said.
However, when he informed a nurse and security guard in the emergency room that he was a member of Four Tops and had security concerns due to stalkers and fans, they didn’t believe him. Instead, a doctor ordered he receive a psychological evaluation, and he was restrained for at least an hour and a half.
The suit accuses the hospital and two staffers — a nurse and a security guard — of negligence, racial discrimination, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
“It was a terrifying experience to be in the middle of a medical emergency, to be placed into restraints, to have my oxygen turned off, my personal effects taken from me, and no help from the doctors and nurses because of the color of my skin. Racial profiling nearly cost me my life,” Morris said in a statement released by his attorneys Tuesday.
Morris had a “significant known history of cardiac disease,” including the placement of stints and defibrillator, the suit said.
During his hospitalization, he was ultimately diagnosed “with a heart infraction that may require a heart transplant, pneumonia, and he suffered three seizures during his stay.”
However, his treatment was delayed because hospital staffers didn’t believe his claim that he was part of the famed Four Tops group.
After check-in, a nurse, a white security guard and a white male emergency room doctor “racially profiled him” and “wrongfully assumed he was mentally ill when he revealed his identity as a celebrity figure,” the complaint said.
He was told he’d get a psychological evaluation “because they did not believe he was a singer or member of the Four Tops.”
Hospital staff decided to remove him from oxygen and pursued a psychiatric evaluation instead of considering Morris’ symptoms and significant medical history, the filing said.
The suit said a security guard was instructed to ensure Morris was placed into a restraining jacket and removed of his belongings.
Morris asked if he could prove his identity by showing his identification card, and the white male security guard ordered him to “sit his Black ass down,” the complaint said. Despite the comment, none of the nursing staff intervened to stop the racial discrimination, the filing said.
The suit said that Morris was ignored when he told staff he was struggling to breathe and requested the oxygen back. He was also allegedly ignored when he asked for the restraint device to be removed and to get his belongings back so he could seek treatment at another hospital.
“He was told he was not free to leave; thus, he was falsely imprisoned and deprived of his personal property. During this time his medical condition continuously declined and he was denied the medical treatment he desperately needed,” the suit said.
Morris’ wife came to the nursing station to collect his belongings and saw what was happening, according to the filing.
She informed one of the security officers that he actually was a member of the Four Tops. A nurse came to Morris’ side and he asked to show the nurse a video of him performing at the Grammys. It was then that the nurse realized he actually was a member of Four Tops and informed the emergency room doctor. When the doctor returned, he said he was cancelling the psychological evaluation.
The restraint jacket was finally removed and Morris was placed back on oxygen after being restrained for “approximately an hour and a half or 90 minutes,” the complaint said.
Morris was offered a $25 gift card to Meijer as an apology, which he refused.
The ordeal delayed Morris’ treatment despite his severe condition and caused him “severe mental and psychological suffering,” the suit said.
The suit alleges racial discrimination, violation of civil rights, negligence, gross negligence, battery, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, violation of the Disabilities Act.
It seeks an excess of $75,000 in damages and demands a jury by trial.
“I see all of these posts on social media like ‘driving while black,’ ‘walking while black,’ but I never imagined I would become a victim of ‘being sick while Black,’” Morris said in his statement. “I filed the lawsuit to hold the hospital accountable for the way I was treated and to protect the younger generations from racism in healthcare.”
An Ascension Hospital spokesperson said Tuesday: “We do not condone racial discrimination of any kind. We will not comment on pending litigation.”
“The health, safety and well-being of our patients, associates and community members remains our top priority. We remain committed to honoring human dignity and acting with integrity and compassion for all persons and the community,” the spokesperson added.
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