Alexander Morris, part of the current lineup of classic soul and R&B singing group Four Tops, is suing a hospital after employees allegedly denied him necessary care because they didn’t believe he was in the group.
Morris, 53, is suing Ascension Macomb Oakland Hospital in Warren, Michigan, for racial discrimination, according to People.
He claims hospital staff stopped listening to his requests and decided he was “delusional” after mentioning the source of his fame.
He adds that hospital employees allegedly restrained him and forced him to undergo a psychiatric evaluation in April 2023.
Morris, the current lead singer of the Four Tops, filed his complaint Monday and is seeking compensation of at least $75,000 and a jury trial.
Alexander Morris (pictured), part of the current lineup of classic soul and R&B singing group Four Tops, is suing a hospital after employees allegedly denied him necessary care because they didn’t believe he was in the group; seen in October 2022 in Berlin
Morris, 53, is suing Ascension Macomb Oakland Hospital (pictured) in Warren, Michigan, for racial discrimination, according to People. He was rushed to the hospital with chest pain and difficulty breathing.
Morris joined the Four Tops in 2019. The Four Tops is one of the most important and influential groups that helped define the sound of the Motown record label, and the group was contemporary with other major acts signed to Motown, including the Temptations, the Supremes and Martha and the Vandellas, among others.
Morris is suing the hospital, along with a nurse and a security guard involved in the alleged incident.
However, the security guard reportedly died in September, according to an obituary observed by People.
The hospital, a nurse and a security guard are listed as defendants, although the security guard appears to have died in September, according to an obituary.
The singer alleges that hospital staff restrained him for an hour and a half while he underwent a psychiatric evaluation, as staff “wrongly assumed he was mentally ill when he revealed his identity as a celebrity figure.”
“The health, safety and well-being of our patients, associates and community members remain our top priority,” a spokesperson for Ascension Hospitals said in a statement. ‘We remain committed to honoring human dignity and acting with integrity and compassion for all people and the community. We do not tolerate racial discrimination of any kind. “We will not comment on pending litigation.”
In his complaint, Morris notes that he has a history of heart disease and says he was rushed to the emergency room at Ascension Macomb Oakland Hospital after he began experiencing chest pain and difficulty breathing in the middle of a tour with the band. Four Tops. .
Things appear to have gotten off to a bad start after Morris allegedly mentioned he was at Four Tops upon arriving at the hospital.
Morris claims he was first given oxygen, but when he said he was worried about fans and bullies because he was in the Four Tops, the staff took him off oxygen and put him in a straitjacket; seen with the Four Tops in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 2022
Morris says she was set up for a psychological evaluation, and it wasn’t until his wife came in and showed the staff a video of him at the Grammys that they believed him and resumed treatment.
He told staff members that he had “current safety concerns due to stalkers and bigots,” at which point employees allegedly stopped providing him with care and instead subjected him to unnecessary and inappropriate psychiatric measures.
According to him, staff members did not believe he was with the group, so they stopped giving him oxygen and instead subjected him to a psychiatric evaluation.
Morris alleges that staff members ignored his requests to give him oxygen again and instead put him in a straitjacket to prevent him from moving.
He allegedly asked for his jacket to be removed so he could leave and find a different hospital to treat him, but staff members allegedly denied his request.
He also claims to have experienced a racist incident involving the security guard.
Morris says he stood up and asked if he could show his ID to prove he was who he said he was, but the guard, who was white, allegedly ordered him to “sit his black ass down.”
It wasn’t until Morris’ wife arrived at the hospital that the ordeal ended. He explained that ‘the doctors thought she was delusional’ and she proceeded to confirm her identity with hospital employees.
However, Morris claims they still didn’t believe he was who he said he was until his wife showed them a video of him performing at the Grammy Awards.
According to him, the psychiatric evaluation was immediately canceled and the straitjacket was removed before oxygen was again administered.
Morris says it was determined he had suffered a heart attack, which could require a transplant later. He says he also had pneumonia and alleged that he suffered three seizures on the same day; the original Four Tops in the photo
Morris’ suit seeks $75,000 in damages and a jury trial. He claims the hospital only offered him a $25 gift card as an apology; the original Four Tops in 1973 in New York
He was then properly diagnosed and doctors determined that he had suffered a heart attack and was currently battling pneumonia.
Morris alleges that he suffered three seizures on the same day and says it was later determined that his heart attack could require him to receive a heart transplant in the future, which would significantly alter his life.
Morris claims he was offered a $25 gift card to a major area retailer “as an apology,” although it is unclear whether hospital staff provided a meaningful verbal apology along with the gift card. Morris says he declined the gift card.
‘When our client showed up at the hospital, he was racially profiled. “The hospital staff and security guard were quicker to assume that Mr. Morris was psychotic than they were successful because he was a black man,” Morris’ attorneys, Maurice Davis and Jasmine Rand, alleged in a statement to People. “Even if was mentally ill, he was still in the middle of a clear medical emergency that required rapid medical intervention. The hospital had no excuse to deny him emergency medical treatment.’
