A singer from the Four Tops is suing a Michigan hospital, alleging that its staff labeled him “delusional” and restrained him in a jacket instead of recognizing him as a member of the legendary Motown vocal quartet seeking care for chest pains related to a “severe” heart condition.
Alexander Morris, who is Black, filed his lawsuit in federal court in Michigan on Monday. He claims that staff at Ascension Macomb Oakland Hospital, located north of Detroit, assumed he was lying when he arrived at the emergency room on April 7, 2023.
Morris stated he was experiencing chest pain and difficulty breathing while on a national tour with The Temptations as the lead singer for the Four Tops.
According to Morris, white hospital staff restrained him using “a restraining jacket and/or a four-point restraint mechanism,” removed his oxygen, and told him he had to wait for a mandatory psychological evaluation.
This information is detailed in his 17-page complaint obtained by Rolling Stone, initially posted by journalist Seamus Hughes.
Morris alleges that for 90 minutes, hospital staff, including a white male security guard, “wrongfully assumed he was mentally ill.”
He claims they refused to verify his identity despite his attempts to explain his “significant” history of cardiac disease, including the placement of stents and a defibrillator.
The Four Tops (Credits: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images)
“[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 lawsuit states. “None of the nursing staff intervened to stop the racial discrimination and mistreatment.”
According to the lawsuit, Morris eventually convinced a nurse to watch a video of him performing at the Grammys.
The nurse then “realized” Morris was a member of the Four Tops — having joined the group in 2019 — and informed the other staff. Morris’ psychological evaluation was subsequently canceled, and he was released from restraints and treated.
He was ultimately diagnosed at the hospital with a “severe heart condition and pneumonia,” the filing alleges.
In a statement to Rolling Stone, Ascension said it couldn’t comment specifically on the pending litigation but added, “We do not condone racial discrimination of any kind.
The health, safety, and well-being of our patients, associates, and community members remain our top priority. We remain committed to honoring human dignity and acting with integrity and compassion for all persons and the community.”
The lawsuit claims a hospital security guard contacted Morris after the incident, revealing that the guard who restrained Morris had a history of making racist comments and jokes and “frequently used excessive force with patients.”
Alexander Morris (Credits: Youtube)
The whistleblower guard also allegedly stated that employees tampered with the incident report and were instructed not to discuss the incident.
Morris’ lawyer, Maurice Davis, tells Rolling Stone that the whistleblower guard has agreed to testify if necessary.
“This case is important because the hospital staff assumed that because he was a Black man, he was having some kind of psychotic episode, he was out of his mind, and he needed to be physically restrained, like he presented some type of danger to the hospital staff,” Davis says.
“They wanted to restrain his hands, bind him, and make sure he couldn’t harm anyone. So instead of assuming that he’s a successful Black man, leader of the Four Tops that he is, they assumed he posed a danger.”
Davis emphasizes that the incident could have had catastrophic consequences. “He could have died. Instead of providing him with treatment, they were restraining him,” Davis says.
“He was going through a pretty serious medical situation, and he was mistreated and discriminated against.”
