The lead singer of the legendary Motown group Four Tops is suing a hospital in Michigan for racial discrimination

Alexander Morris, the lead singer of the acclaimed Motown group The Four Tops, has filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against a Michigan hospital. The 53-year-old claims hospital staff at Ascension Macomb-Oakland Hospital thought he was “delusional” when he said he was a member of the group and put him in a straitjacket.

The sensual pop singer, who has a medical history that includes heart disease, a defibrillator and stents, was taken to the emergency room by ambulance in April 2023 and put on an oxygen supply after presenting with difficulty breathing and chest pain.

A lawsuit filed on June 10 alleges that after his arrival, he “told a nurse and security guard that he was a member of the Four Tops and was afraid of stalkers and fans, the lawsuit says. But staff didn’t believe him, and a doctor ordered a psychological evaluation, put him in a restraint vest and took away his oxygen and belongings,” CBS News reports.

To confirm his identity, Morris pulled out his ID, and the security guard allegedly ordered him to “sit his black ass down,” the lawsuit states.

The singer asked for medical attention as he was still having difficulty breathing and again requested oxygen, but Morris claims his cries for help were ignored. He attempted to leave the hospital and seek treatment at another hospital and asked for the straitjacket to be removed, but this request was also ignored. Staff reportedly told him he “couldn’t walk”. In addition, he was continually denied care despite being surrounded by security guards who made sure he couldn’t leave the hospital grounds.

According to the lawsuit, the hospital blatantly refused to provide medical treatment to the plaintiff based on his race and/or perceived mental disability…Instead, the plaintiff received a willful misdiagnosis and inferior medical care based on his race, which amounted to racial discrimination and delayed his actual diagnosis.”

When Morris’ wife arrived, hospital staff informed her of her husband’s delusions, and she confirmed to a security guard that Morris was a member of the Four Tops. Still, no one believed her story until Morris showed a nurse a video from the Grammy Awards.

Maurice Davis, Morris’s attorney, told CNN his client “experienced a clear medical emergency, he has chest pains, a history of heart problems and strokes. A situation like this requires rapid medical intervention.”

This entire altercation reportedly lasted about 90 minutes. After realizing their mistake, they offered him a $25 gift card to a grocery store “as an apology for the dehumanization and discrimination he experienced at the hospital,” which Morris declined.

After the incident, another hospital security guard told Morris that the lead security guard he interacted with had a history of making racist comments to his co-workers and “‘frequently’ using excessive force toward hospital patients.”

In a statement, a hospital spokesperson said: “The health, safety and well-being of our patients, staff and community members remain our highest priority… We remain committed to respecting human dignity and acting with integrity and compassion toward all people and the community. We do not tolerate racial discrimination of any kind. We will not comment on ongoing litigation.”

In his lawsuit, Morris is seeking “more than $75,000 in damages in a jury trial” and accuses him of “racial discrimination, violation of civil rights, negligence, gross negligence, assault, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act.”

In a statement, Morris said, “I see all these posts on social media like ‘driving as a black person’ or ‘walking as a black person,’ but I never thought I would be a victim of ‘being sick as a black person.’ … I filed a lawsuit to hold the hospital accountable for the way I was treated and to protect younger generations from racism in the healthcare system.”